Money-laundering case: No evidence of corruption against Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza Shahbaz found, says court

LAHORE: A Special Court Central, in its detailed order of confirmation of pre-arrest bail of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief Minister Punjab Hamza Shehbaz, stated on Monday that "prima facie, no evidence of corruption, misuse of authority, and bribery" was so far found on record against father-son duo in the Rs16 billion money laundering case against them by the FIA.

The court order reads, “Prima facie, allegation about gratification, corrupt practice, abuse of official authority, kickbacks, and commission requires further probe during the trial as at this stage cogent evidence is not available”.

The detailed judgment on the bail matter was issued by the Special Court Central judge Ijaz Hassan Awan. The order states that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had mala fide intentions as it wanted to arrest Prime Minister and Chief Minister after they secured bail in the National Accountability Bureau’s cases.

The court said, “It is worth-mentioning that the investigating officer (IO) did not record any police diary till date, suggesting that arrest of the petitioners is required by him for further investigation and this fact was also concealed by the special prosecutor as well as Investigation Officer of the case”.

The court while explaining its order said that the investigation of the case has been completed and the charge sheet has also been submitted, therefore, the arrests are not required. The order further said that the statements of the 64 people recorded in the case who had deposited the amounts which amounts to Rs60.7 million and not Rs16 billion as claimed by the FIA.

It added that in the statements of the 64 depositors, none mentioned the names of the prime minister and the chief minister. “Moreover, said statements do not spell out any bribery, kickbacks, or commission, the order said.

The order stated that the FIA started investigating Hamza and PM Shehbaz when they were already in the NAB’s custody. The court said that it is on record that both were interrogated twice.

Furthermore, the FIA did not interrogate Shehbaz and Hamza for five months after they were released from NAB’s custody, the order reads. The order explained that this delay of the FIA shows that the prosecution wanted to arrest them again after their release, which shows its mal intent.

The court added that although Hamza Shahbaz was the CEO of the Ramazan Sugar Mills, the prosecution was not able to prove that the accounts used to launder money were opened on his orders.

The court said that the FIA claimed that Hamza was involved in corruption worth Rs25 billion, but later, in the charge sheet, it said that he was involved in corruption worth Rs16 billion, the court mentioned.