ISLAMABAD: A special court in Pakistan on Wednesday announced its decision to acquit Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz in a Rs16 billion money-laundering case, said the local media, due to the lack of evidence against them.
The two politicians were booked by the country’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in November 2020 under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Anti Money Laundering Act while they were in the opposition.
The agency presented its case against them in the court in December 2021, accusing them of laundering Rs16.3 billion by using 28 different accounts between 2008 and 2018.
The FIA counsel recently told the court, however, there was not sufficient evidence directly linking the prime minister and his son to the 17,000 transactions investigated by the agency in the case.
“The court announced its judgment in the mega money-laundering case against the Shehbaz family after the FIA prosecutor informed the court that no money was directly deposited in the accounts of the father-son duo,” Geo News reported.
While the prime minister and his political party have frequently dismissed such cases of corruption and financial embezzlement as politically motivated, they faced public criticism after reports emerged in the local media earlier this year that the FIA had decided to stop prosecuting them in the case.
The information was based on a letter written by a special prosecutor in the case that was submitted in the court after the former administration of Imran Khan was ousted from power in a no-trust vote in April and Sharif took over as the new prime minister.
“The concerned quarters are not interested to prosecute the accused persons,” proclaimed the letter.
However, the FIA swiftly issued a rebuttal, saying the case had not been “withdrawn” and proceedings were still “continuing in the court.”
The agency also described the media reports as “fake news.”
The court verdict on Wednesday was applauded by the prime minister who said he had been acquitted in “the false and baseless money-laundering case based on political revenge.”
However, his political rivals described the verdict as a mockery of justice.
