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Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's son Suleman Shehbaz on Friday has been declared as a proclaimed offender, along with another suspect, by a Lahore Special Court in a PKR 16 billion money laundering case, local media reports said.
The Court also sought the property details of Suleman Shehbaz. It is worthy to note that the case in which the special court declared suspects Suleman and Tahir Naqvi as proclaimed offenders also has Prime Minister Shehbaz and Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz as suspects. It also summoned the property details of Naqvi in regard to the case. The court granted a one-time exemption to PM Shehbaz Sharif from appearing before the court however asked him to ensure his presence at the next hearing, reported Pakistan's local media outlet, The News International. Moreover, the court also summoned the death certificate of another suspect in the case, Malik Maqsood Ahmed, aka "Maqsood chaprasi", who passed away in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last month. The court then adjourned the hearing till July 30. Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in December 2021, submitted a challan against Shehbaz and Hamza to the special court for their alleged involvement in laundering Rs16 billion in a sugar scam. According to the FIA report submitted to the court, the investigation team "detected 28 benami accounts of the Shehbaz family through which money laundering of Rs16.3bn was committed from 2008-18. The FIA examined a money trail of 17,000 credit transactions." The report added that the amount was kept in "hidden accounts" and "given to Shehbaz in a personal capacity". This amount (PKR 16 billion) has nothing to do with the sugar business (of Shehbaz's family), it claimed. The money allegedly received from the accounts of low-wage employees was transferred outside Pakistan via hundi/hawala networks, ultimately destined for the beneficial use of his family members, the FIA had said. "Eleven low-paid employees of the Sharif group who 'held and possessed' the laundered proceeds on behalf of the principal accused, are found guilty of facilitating money laundering. The three other co-accused of the Sharif group also actively facilitated the money laundering," the agency added. (ANI)
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