PM appears in Money laundering case, hearing adjourned till Oct 8

PM appears in Money laundering case, hearing adjourned till Oct 8

Lahore: (Web Desk): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday appeared before a central special court in the Rs16 billion money laundering case by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against him and his son Hamza Shahbaz.

During today's hearing, Hamza did not appear before the court as he had sought exemption on medical grounds.

PM Shehbaz requested the court to grant him permission to speak, which was allowed by the court.

Standing on the rostrum, Shehbaz Sharif apprised the court that, while holding the coveted seat of Punjab chief minister, he made decisions that hurt his family’s business.

The premier also told the court that a "fake case" has been registered against him and that he had made several decisions in the interest of the people, hurting his family business in the process.

PM Shehbaz's lawyer, Amjad Pervaiz, who presented his arguments today said that the first information report (FIR) registered against his clients mentioned they were involved in money laundering worth Rs25 billion from 2008-2018 through fake companies.

He told the court that Shehbaz Sharif was neither the director nor a shareholder of those companies in those 10 years, alleging the anti-graft body and another departments of 'political engineering.'

Later, the court allowed PM Shehbaz Sharif to leave as he told the judge about some important business in Islamabad to look after. The hearing has been adjourned until October 8.

The Special Court (Central) adjourned the hearing till October 8.