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Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif gave testimony today in a special court hearing in the Pakistan Rupee 16 billion corruption case against him that when he was Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province, he refused to take any salary and referred to himself as a “majnoo” for doing so. Shehbaz Sharif and his sons, Hamza and Suleman, were charged in November 2020 by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) under specific segments of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Suleman Sharif currently resides in the United Kingdom, while Hamza Sharif is the Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province.
The FIA investigation discovered 28 benami accounts, allegedly belonging to the Shehbaz family, through which Pakistan Rupee 14 billion (USD 75 million) was laundered between 2008 and 2018.
The FIA investigated the cash trail of 17,000 card payments.
According to the charges, the money was kept in “hidden accounts” and given to Shehbaz Sharif in his private capacity.
“I haven’t taken anything from the government in 12.5 years, and now I’m accused of laundering 2.5 million dollars,” Shehbaz Sharif said during the hearing.
“God has given me the position of Prime Minister of this country. I am a majnoo (idiot), and I did not exercise my legal rights, including my salary and benefits “According to Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper.
He remembered the secretary sending him a note for sugar exports during his tenure as Chief Minister of Province of punjab, when he set an export limit and rejected the note.
Shehbaz Sharif was appointed Chief Minister of Punjab in 1997, when his brother, Nawaz Sharif, was Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Shehbaz Sharif and his family spent eight years in exile in Saudi Arabia after General Pervez Musharraf’s coup in 1999 toppled the Nawaz Sharif government, before returning to Pakistan in 2007.
He was elected as Pakistan’s Punjab Chief Minister for the 2nd time in 2008, and for the third time in 2013.
“Because of my decision, my family lost PKR 2 billion. I’m telling you the truth. Even though my son’s ethanol production line was being built, I decided to levy a duty on ethanol. My family lost PKR 800 million per year as a result of that decision. The previous administration withdrew the notification, claiming that it was unfair to the sugar mills “He asserted.
