FIA stops pursuing money laundering case against PM Shehbaz, Hamza

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has decided not to prosecute Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz in the Rs16 billion money laundering case.

Special Judge Central Aijaz Hasan led the hearing on Thursday where Special Prosecutor Sikander Zulqarnain submitted that he has been asked by the DG FIA through an investigation officer to leave the case.

The special prosecutor said that he was barred from the DG FIA from appearing before the court hearing the money laundering case against Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shahbaz.

“It was conveyed that the DG no longer wanted to pursue the case,” he said in his written request which was later made part of the record of the case by the court.

The judge rejected the FIA’s plea and directed Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shahbaz to appear before the court on May 14 for indictment proceedings.

Shehbaz and his family are facing charges of money laundering of billions of rupees allegedly using accounts of their sugar mills and employee. A special court is scheduled to frame charges against the PML-N leaders on May 14

According to a written application submitted in court, the FIA director general (DG) told Special Prosecutor not to appear in court as the “accused in the case are going to be elected the prime minister of Pakistan and chief minister of Punjab”.

“The concerned quarters are not interested to prosecute the accused persons,” it stated, requesting that these instructions be made part of the case record.

Earlier this week, FIA former director Mohammad Rizwan, who probed the charges against Shehbaz and his son, died of a sudden heart attack.

The FIA had booked PM Shehbaz and his sons, Hamza and Suleman, in November 2020 along with 14 others. The special court had on January 27 granted pre-arrest bail to Shehbaz and Hamza in the case.