LAHORE: Suleman Shehbaz, the son of Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister, was given a pre-arrest release on Friday on two distinct charges of money laundering and acquiring assets beyond recognized sources of income until January 7.
After living in self-exile in London for four years, Suleman returned to Pakistan earlier this month. He is currently a suspect in a money laundering investigation being conducted by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has nominated him as a subject of an assets-beyond-means reference. In both instances, he has been labeled as a proclaimed offender.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has prohibited the NAB and FIA from detaining him before his return.
The IHC decision was made in response to Suleman’s application for protected bail, which would have allowed him to appear in court without being detained. On December 13, he ultimately received a 14-day protective bail.
He surrendered to an accountability court and a special court in Lahore today, entered bail petitions, and was granted temporary release in the two cases. His attorney, Amjad Pervaiz, presented a motion for temporary bail in the NAB case before an accountability court today following his surrender.