LAHORE – The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday rejected a bail petition filed by Hamza Shehbaz in relation to a money laundering and assets beyond means case.
The court, while hearing the case today, remarked that Hamza had failed to give satisfactory answers regarding his sources of income.
The PML-N leader’s counsel stated that money laundering laws do not apply to Hamza as they were introduced after he had allegedly committed the crime. He said the money in question was transferred into his accounts before money laundering laws were introduced.
The lawyer recalled that the first ordinance against money laundering was introduced in 2007, which lapsed in 90 days. The second ordinance was introduced in 2009, and the actual law against money laundering was introduced in 2010.
The court remarked that if it accepts the applicant’s point of view, the anti-money laundering law will be rendered completely redundant.
Hamza Shehbaz’s lawyer contended that every detail had been provided in the accused’s income tax returns.
When the court inquired regarding the increase in Hamza’s personal accounts over the years, the NAB prosecutor said there was an increase of more than Rs400 million in the said accounts from 2009 till 2018.
The court inquired if the money had been deposited directly into Hamza’s personal accounts, to which the prosecutor responded in the affirmative.
On February 6, the LHC had granted Hamza Shehbaz bail in the Ramzan Sugar Mills case.
