LAHORE: An accountability court on Saturday extended the interim pre-arrest bail of Suleman Shehbaz, younger son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a reference of money laundering made by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Suleman along with his legal team appeared before the court.

The court asked a prosecutor of the NAB about the status of the investigation.

The prosecutor said a questionnaire had been handed over to Suleman, which was yet to be answered.

Advocate Amjad Parvez, the counsel for Suleman, told the court that he required some time to respond to the questionnaire of the NAB.

Asked how much time was needed to complete the investigation, the prosecutor said it would take at least two weeks after submission of the reply by the suspect.

The court extended the bail of Suleman till Jan 23 and directed the prosecutor to ensure the investigation was completed by the next hearing.

NAB prosecutor directed to complete probe by next hearing

Later, Suleman also appeared before a special court (central-I) for pre-arrest bail in a money laundering case lodged by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The court directed the investigating officer to complete the investigation within two weeks and extended the pre-arrest bail of Suleman till Jan 21.

PM Shehbaz’s son Suleman, a daughter Rabia Imran and son-in-law Haroon Yousaf have been declared absconders by the court for avoiding their appearance in the proceedings.

Suleman recently ended his self-exile and returned to the country after securing an interim protective bail from the Islamabad High Court.

In this reference of the money laundering, the NAB alleged that the family members and benamidars of PM Shehbaz received fake foreign remittances of billions in their personal bank accounts.

In addition to these remittances, the bureau said, billions of rupees were laundered by way of foreign pay orders, which were deposited with the personal bank accounts of his sons Hamza and Suleman.

PM Shehbaz, his son Hamza, daughter Javeria Ali have been indicted in the reference besides other accused including Fazal Dad Abbasi, Rashid Karamat, Muhammad Usman, Masroor Anwar, Nisar Ahmad, Shoaib Qamar and Qasim Qayum. Shehbaz’s wife Nusrat has been indicted through a pleader as she is out of the country.

In the FIA case, PM Shehbaz and former chief minister Hamza have been acquitted by the trial court.

Published in Dawn, january 8th, 2023