Money laundering case: Court finds no evidence of corruption against PM Shehbaz, CM Hamza

LAHORE: There's no evidence of corruption, misuse of authority, and bribery found so far against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Punjab Chief Minister Punjab Hamza Shahbaz, a  special court in the city said Monday while hearing Rs16 billion money laundering case.

The higher court, in a written order for confirming their pre-arrest bail, said the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) wanted to arrest PM Shehbaz and CM Hamza after they secured bails in the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) cases, showing that the FIA had “mala fide” intentions.

The special court ahd granted the two pre-arrest bail last week.

“...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 order read.

According to the order, the investigation office (IO), to date, has not mentioned in his diary that the petitioners were required to be in custody for further investigation.

The investigation of the case has been completed and the charge sheet has also been submitted, therefore, the arrests are not required, the special court said, explaining its decision to grant the petitioners bail.