LAHORE: A judicial magistrate on Saturday adjourned to September 23 the hearing of money laundering inquiry against Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and his sons for cross examination of Shahbaz Sharif and Hamza Shahbaz.

Earlier the magistrate recorded the statements of six bankers as prosecution witness when Shehbaz and Hamza did not attend the court.

The FIA had submitted a list of 26 witnesses, all officers of different banks, before the magistrate with a request to record their statements under section 164 of CrPC.

The agency said the witnesses opened/operated fictitious bank accounts in the name of low-wage employees of Ramzan Sugar Mills, owned by the Shehbaz’s family. It said the bankers did this under the pressure and influence of the Sharif family owing to the position of Shehbaz Sharif as chief minister of Punjab.

Both the father and the son are on pre-arrest bail in the money laundering inquiry till September 25. The FIA had booked Shehbaz and his sons Hamza and Suleman in November 2020 on charges of financial fraud, impersonation, forgery and criminal misconduct. Suleman is absconder in UK.

The banking court had granted the bail to Shehbaz and Hamza on June 21, a day before first appearance of Shehbaz in the inquiry.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021