Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Sunday that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif was accused of sending Rs 25 billion out of Pakistan through forgery.
In a tweet, the minister said so far, the said amount had just been traced but, the real figure could be much higher. The minister regretted that the opposition leader was not willing to give answers to the queries of Federal Investigation Agency’s team and only made lame excuses.
Fawad Hussain remarked that release of Shehbaz Sharif from jail was not less than a joke.Days earlier, Shehbaz Sharif took on the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), accusing it of misbehaving with and humiliating him during his appearance last month in the multi-billion sugar scam.
The FIA was quick to reject the claim, explaining that the opposition leader in the National Assembly was treated well, but his response to the investigators’ queries was rather “non-serious, irresponsible and totally evasive”.
Mr Shehbaz made this complaint when he and his son Hamza appeared before a sessions court judge to seek extension to their pre-arrest bail in the scam. The court extended their bail till Aug 2.
After hearing the complaint, Additional District and Sessions Judge Syed Ali Abbas, who heard the bail plea as a duty judge for a special court (banking off-en¬ces), directed the FIA’s investigating officer to “strictly follow human rights and not harass” him during the investigation.
