Lahore court extends Shehbaz, Hamza's bail in money laundering case

A Lahore court extended on Saturday the interim bail of PML-N’s President Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz in the money laundering case till October 9.

Shehbaz and his son Hamza appeared before the court today upon the expiration of the bail. Both leaders are facing Rs25 billion money laundering charges in the sugar scandal.

In November 2020, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had booked them in the case under sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

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“A sugar commission that was formed in 2020 found that the Ramzan Sugar Mills was involved in fraud,” an FIA’s official told the court.

The official also informed the court that 57 fake accounts had been opened in the names of 20 of the mill's employees.

"They kept opening and closing [fake bank] accounts between 2008 and 2018, and 56,894 transactions were made [during this period], into which the FIA is investigating."

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When the court asked if the probe had been completed or more time was needed for the inquiry, the FIA official said that all the records gathered by the agency had been presented to the court, but FIA was "not yet in the position to submit a challan".

The official told the court that Shehbaz and Hamza were not cooperating in the probe, saying that both leaders had not shared all records sought against them by the agency.

During the hearing, Shehbaz asked the court to allow him to speak, but the judge rejected his plea and directed him to cooperate with the FIA in the inquiry.