Court adjourns hearing of money laundering case against Shehbaz family till July 8

LAHORE (APP): An accountability court on Monday adjourned the hearing of assets beyond means and money laundering reference against Shehbaz Sharif family till July 8.
Duty Judge Sheikh Sajjad Ahmad conducted the proceedings, wherein Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz appeared and got his attendance marked.
A counsel for the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif requested the court to grant a one-time exemption from personal appearance to his client as he was busy in the National Assembly session. At this, the court allowed the request and granted a one-time exemption from personal appearance to Shehbaz Sharif, besides adjourning further hearing till July 8.
It is pertinent to mention here that Lahore High Court had granted bail to Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shehbaz in the case.
The NAB had nominated 16 people as accused in the case. However, only 10, out of 16, were indicted yet. Besides Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza Shehbaz, Javeria Ali, Fazl Dad Abbasi, Rashid Karamat, Muhammad Usman, Masroor Anwar, Nisar Ahmad, Shoaib Qamar and Qasim Qayyum had been indicted in the case. However, Salman Shehbaz, Nusrat Shehbaz, Rabia Imran, Syed Muhammad Tahir Naqvi, Haroon Yousaf Zai and another could not be indicted due to their absence. In a reference, comprising 55 volumes, the bureau had alleged that Shehbaz Sharif family committed massive money laundering of Rs 7 billion. Yasir Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmad, Shahid Rafique and Aftab were made approvers in the reference.
Meanwhile, another accountability court adjourned the hearing of Ramzan Sugar Mills case against Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shehbaz till July 8. Duty Judge Asad Ali conducted the brief proceedings of the case. Moreover, the accountability court adjourned the hearing of Ashiana Iqbal Housing case till July 8. The court also granted a one-time exemption from personal appearance to Shehbaz Sharif while allowing an application for the purpose.