Connect with us

Politics

PM Shehbaz, Hamza acquitted in Rs16bn money laundering case

Published

on

  • FIA still insists that case should proceed against PM Shehbaz, Hamza.
  • However, court says FIA failed to produce “concrete evidence”.
  • FIA submitted challan against Hamza, PM Shehbaz in December 2021.

LAHORE: The Special Court, Central, Wednesday acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz in the Rs16 billion money laundering case lodged against them by the Federal Investigation Agency.

The court announced its judgment in the mega money laundering case against the Shehbaz family after the FIA prosecutor informed the court that no money was directly deposited in the accounts of the father-son duo.

The father-son duo — who were summoned today — did not appear before the court as their counsel filed a request for exemption as PM Shehbaz had official engagements and Hamza was not well.

The court acquitted the prime minister and his son after the FIA — last week — had cleared the PML-N leaders on the charges of laundering Rs16 billion as there was “no direct evidence” against the father-son duo.

During today’s hearing, FIA prosecutor Farooq Bajwa opposed acquitting the suspects, saying that Hamza is allegedly involved in another Rs25 billion money laundering case.

“We want this case to proceed. The case should go on till the suspects have been indicted,” the prosecutor urged.

However, Special Court Judge Ejaz Awan noted that the FIA has failed to produce “concrete evidence” in the challan submitted before the court against the suspects. Following this, the court acquitted the suspects. 

In the previous hearing on Tuesday, the judge asked about the number of bank accounts owned by the Malik Maqsood — also known as Maqsood Chaprasi.

The FIA prosecutor Farooq Bajwa responded that late Maqsood had eight bank accounts to his name.

The prosecutor further stated that no money was either directly deposited or withdrawn from the accounts of the suspects, including Shehbaz and Hamza.

The judge asked what evidence was there to substantiate that the entire money dealing was being done at Hamza’s behest.

In response, FIA’s prosecutor said the agency does not have “any evidence” linking him to money laundering.

‘Fake, baseless, based on political vengeance’

After the verdict’s announcement, the prime minister thanked God for his acquittal and termed the case against him “fake, baseless, and based on political vengeance”.

“No matter how much I thank God enough for this, it won’t be enough,” he said in a tweet.

PM Shehbaz said that “despite the worst practices, use of state force, and holding institutions hostage,” he still triumphed.

In a statement, the former chief minister said the verdict marks the victory of “truth, righteousness, and honesty”.

“In this politically motivated case, I was kept behind bars for almost 22 months, but despite that, we fought the case vigorously,” Hamza said.

“The nation’s money was wasted, and the reputation of institutions was also damaged due to the cases lodged on Imran Khan’s directions,” the PML-N leader said.

Hamza said that before Pakistani courts, the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency also gave a clean chit to PM Shehbaz.

“The actual money launderer is Imran Niazi, who received funds through a ‘tea boy’. He is a certified foreign-funded [politician], who will now have to face the courts,” he added.

Felicitating PM Shehbaz and Hamza, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Ata Tarar said that with this verdict the “narrative of vindictive accountability of the Imran-era has been buried.”

“Where is [Khan’s former aide on accountability] Shahzad Akbar?” he questioned during a press conference.

PML-N MPA Hina Pervaiz Butt said another case “proved to be just a political vendetta against the Sharif family”.

“No amount of lies can stop the naked flood of Truth. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shehbaz stand vindicated […] Remember Sharifs can’t be intimidated and can’t be bowed down,” she added.

The case

In December 2021, the FIA had submitted the challan against Shehbaz and Hamza before the special court for their alleged involvement in laundering an amount of Rs16 billion in the sugar scam case.

According to the FIA report submitted to the court, the investigation team has “detected 28 benami accounts of the Shehbaz family through which money laundering of Rs16.3bn was committed during 2008-18. The FIA examined the money trail of 17,000 credit transactions.”

The report added that the amount was kept in “hidden accounts” and given to Shehbaz in a personal capacity.

This amount (Rs16 billion) has nothing to do with the sugar business (of the Shehbaz family), it claimed. 

The money received from the accounts of low-wage employees by Shehbaz was transferred outside Pakistan via hundi/hawala networks, ultimately destined for the beneficial use of his family members, the FIA had alleged.

“Eleven low-paid employees of the Sharif group who ‘held and possessed’ the laundered proceeds on behalf of the principal accused, are found guilty of facilitating money laundering,” the agency had said.

“The three other co-accused of the Sharif group also actively facilitated the money laundering,” it had added.

Elections

Atta Tarar’s triumph over NA-127 in the LHC is contested

Published

on

By

The victory of Attaullah Tarar, the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) from Lahore’s NA-127 constituency in the general elections on February 8 has been contested in the Lahore High Court (LHC).

Samiullah Khan’s victory from PP-145 has also been contested. The petitions will be heard by Election Tribunal Judge Sultan Tanveer. The petitions have included the Pakistani Election Commission (ECP) and other parties as parties.

In the meantime, Attaullah Tarar stated during a discussion with Miss Zoe Ware, the Political Counselor of the British High Commission, that fake news, misinformation, and disinformation were global issues that needed to be managed.

According to the minister, fake news is the largest issue on social media, and the government is working to address it.

The conference covered a wide range of topics, including the two nations’ relationship and how to foster media collaboration. Collaboration in the drama and cinema industries was also covered.

According to Attaullah Tarar, social media verification should be adopted by journalists, and a global code of conduct for social media usage should be created.

Miss Zoe Ware thanked Attaullah Tarar on taking over as Minister of Information and Broadcasting and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) on establishing the cabinet.

She was given the assurance that the UK diplomat will work with her to promote bilateral ties between Pakistan and the UK.

Continue Reading

Pakistan

US commitment to resolving Pakistan’s energy crisis is prioritized

Published

on

By

According to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, Pakistan was assisted by the United States in producing an extra 4,000 megawatts of sustainable energy.

According to him, these kinds of initiatives have given Pakistan more capacity to produce energy, allowing it to power millions of people.

The spokesman restated that both nations will cooperate through the green alliance to address the environmental issues.

At a news briefing, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated, “Earlier, the United States advised Pakistan to halt the Pak-Iran Gas Pipeline Project, as engaging in business with Iran poses the risk of encountering U.S. sanctions.”

“We always advise everyone that doing business with Iran carries the risk of encountering our sanctions, and we would advise everyone to consider that very carefully,” he continued. “I’m not going to preview any potential sanctions.”

He said, “We do not support this pipeline going forward, as the Assistant Secretary made clear last week.”

The Pakistan-Iran pipeline project was approved for completion a few months ago by the caretaker administration in Pakistan. But after this permission, Pakistan received an official statement from the US expressing its worries. Pakistan again put a stop to the project’s execution when the United States expressed concerns.

Miller said, “We condemn the attack on a convoy of PRC engineers in Pakistan,” in response to a query. Miller also denounced the terrorist attack on Chinese engineers in Pakistan. We offer our sincere condolences to all impacted by the incident and are extremely saddened by the deaths and injuries incurred.

He declared, “Terrorists have caused enormous suffering to the Pakistani people, and Chinese nationals living in Pakistan have also been the targets of terrorist strikes.” Such acts of terror should not occur in any nation.

In response to a question concerning a letter from Pakistani judges, the spokesperson stated that while he had seen the letter, he had not yet conferred with his colleagues and would not be making any comments.

Continue Reading

Pakistan

Fazlur Rehman says the government led by Shehbaz won’t be able to deliver

Published

on

By

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), expressed doubts on Wednesday over the viability of the Shehbaz Sharif administration, stating that he believes the new system will fail if citizens go to the streets.

Fazlur Rehman stated on Wednesday’s “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath” segment of Geo News that “the parliament will likely be a rubber stamp.” There are simply too many obstacles for this government to handle. In the end, politicians will be held accountable for all of their shortcomings.”

The “crime is committed by someone else and the politicians take responsibility,” he said, calling it bizarre. The leader of JUI-F declared that his organization will demonstrate against the establishments that had turned the elections into a “game.”


Levels of Quality Complete Screen
Fazl has previously said that he would abstain from the by-elections for the National Assembly and provincial assembly seats. In addition, he declared that on April 25, following Ramadan, he will start a protest campaign against the purported election manipulation from Balochistan.

“We firmly believe that there will be a rigged general election in 2024. And the factor that changed the outcome would be our aim. We reject the findings that led to the formation of this government,” he declared.

The leader of JUI-F stated that they disagreed with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa election results.

“[Earlier] the issues with the PTI were ideological and not election-related,” he said.

He stated that the party had not yet made the decision to work with the PTI. He did concede, though, that the Imran Khan-led party’s attitude has changed for the better. He remarked that it was a positive attitude and that it would not be a problem if the two parties moved together.

Fazl also revealed that he told Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister, that he thought of him as a new blue-eyed boy during their meeting.

Continue Reading

Trending