Suleman Shehbaz, the son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, was pronounced innocent in the Rs16 billion money laundering case on Saturday by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
After four years of self-exile in London, Suleman returned to Pakistan earlier in December. He was a defendant in a money laundering case filed with the FIA, in which the special court, central had previously cleared PM Shehbaz and his son Hamza Shahbaz in October.
On December 23, 2022, an accountability court granted Suleman temporary bail in the money laundering case in exchange for bail bonds of Rs500,000 after he submitted a bail request arguing that the court must follow all legal requirements before deeming him an evader.
Suleman and co-accused Tahir Naqvi were “not found guilty,” according to the investigating agency’s additional challan, which was filed in Lahore court.
The case
Shehbaz and his sons Hamza and Suleman were arrested in November 2020 by the investigating agency for violating the Prevention of Corruption Act’s sections 419, 420, 468, 471, 34, and 109 as well as provision r/w 3/4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Suleman had been served with arrest warrants, but the FIA said in its report to the court that Suleman was not at his house and had left the country, thus the warrants could not be carried out.
Along with another defendant in a Rs16 billion money laundering case, a trial court had also designated him as a proclaimed offender in July of this year.
