Money laundering case: FIA demands arrest of PM Shahbaz, CM Hamza

Lahore: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has demanded the arrest of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz in the Rs16 billion money laundering case.

According to details, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son and CM Punjab Hamza Shehbaz appeared before the special court in Lahore under strict security protocol.

The CM Punjab's lawyer Amjad Pervez concluded the arguments regarding the interim bail of the PM and CM Punjab while FIA pleaded to the court to order their arrest.

During the hearing, the court inquired whether the FIA ​​says they need the arrest of the accused, to which the FIA ​​prosecutor said that the further role of the accused has yet to be proved. The arrest of the accused is required.

Counsel of the PML-N leaders opposed FIA plea and argued the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led government had filed the case with mala fide intent to target political opponents.

FIA has also submitted a supplementary challan against PM Shehbaz and CM Hamza and others in money laundering case.

In December last year, the FIA had submitted a challan against the two PML-N leaders before the court for their alleged involvement in laundering an amount of Rs16 billion in the sugar scam case. The investigation team has “detected 28 Benami [untitled] accounts of the Shehbaz family through which money laundering of Rs16.3bn was committed during 2008 to 2018”. It examined the money trail of 17,000 credit transactions.