FIA gives clean chit to PM Shehbaz’s son Suleman in money laundering case
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday gave clean chit to Suleman Shehbaz, son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in the Rs16 billion money laundering case.
Special Central Court Lahore was hearing Suleman’s pre-arrest bail plea.
During the hearing, the investigation agency submitted a supplementary challan in Lahore court, stating Suleman and co-accused Tahir Naqvi were “not found guilty”.
Following the clean chit by FIA, Suleman Shehbaz and Tahir Naqvi withdrew their pre-arrest bail plea from the court.
His father PM Shehbaz, and brother Hamza Shahbaz had already been acquitted in the case.
Background:
Suleman had reached London from Pakistan ahead of the 2018 general elections when the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) registered several cases against him.
He was accused of money laundering and misuse of public office by Imran Khan’s former accountability aide Shahzad Akbar, but he was given a clean chit after two years of investigation by the UK’s top anti-corruption body.
The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) had started investigation in 2019 by freezing the assets of Shehbaz Sharif and Suleman Shahbaz.
After two years of investigations in other countries including the UK, the NCA had told the court that they had found no evidence to support the allegations. The NCA had released the assets without taking any further action after the investigation.
