Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz, appeared in a special court in Lahore on Saturday for the hearing of a Rs16 billion money laundering case. Shehbaz told the court that the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) had conducted an investigation for nearly two years but could not find “even one rupee of corruption”. He said he had lived in the UK and done business there, claiming that the cases against him were “political”. He told the court he had served as chief minister for 10 years but had never taken a salary. “My salary would be Rs 10 million but I did not take it. I also went on official tours using my own money. I used to get the government car refuelled from my own pocket. I saved the nation billions of rupees”. His lawyer argued that the 14 accounts mentioned by the Federal Investigation Agency were through banking channels. “Baseless propaganda was done in this case for 1.5 years. The suspects tolerated insults despite lack of evidence. It seems the FIA is inspired by Netflix. This is a film-inspired FIR”. The interim bail of PM Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza has now been extended till May 28.
