Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday fired off another broadside at his predecessor Imran Khan, calling him a “fraud and a liar” as he excoriated the PTI chief for “bidding in the PM House”.

“Pakistan’s prime minister was bidding [for people] in the PM house,” PM Shehbaz said outside Special Central Court in Lahore.

“He had set up a market of buying and selling and consciences were being sold. Could there be a bigger crime than this by a sitting PM,” the prime minister asked as he referred to the recent audio leaks in which Imran can be allegedly heard speaking buying “five”.

Yesterday two more damning audio tapes purportedly featuring the PTI chief came to the fore, suggesting his plans for horse-trading of parliamentarians and using a “US cipher” to brand those who would vote against him in April’s confidence vote as traitors.

“He himself is saying that he bought five votes, from where did the money come, such a big crime, what will be a bigger crime than a PM saying ‘I have bought five votes’.

“From where did you arrange the money, from the national treasury or Farah Gogi and others giving jewels? From where?”

Both audio leaks, which have not been independently verified by Dawn.com and the veracity of which cannot be authenticated, seemed to be from April when Imran was in power and the no-confidence motion — that later led to his ouster — had been tabled in the National Assembly.

After the leaks emerged on Friday, the PTI chief clai­med in an afternoon rally that the PML-N was behind a “new game of fake audios”, whereas other party leaders said the leaked audios were a work of “cut and paste” in which bits of different conversations could be joined together.

However, Prime Minister Shehbaz said in a tweet later that the leaks had “exposed” Khan’s “hypocrisy” and his “anti-state actions” had made him unfit for high office.

Speaking to the media outside the accountability court today, Shehbaz said that the PTI chief was answerable to the nation. “I have proved through facts that you are a fraud and liar.

“You conspired against the nation […] the audios that have surfaced have shown your drama and lies.”

The premier went on to lambaste Imran for “lying day and night and bringing disrepute to Pakistan”.

“The way our relations with the US were destroyed […] we are now making efforts to mend relations. I have never ever seen a bigger conspiracy against Pakistan […] he is an example of the worst kind of mindset in the world.

“And I feel compelled to say that I have not seen in my life a bigger liar, conspirer, deceiver, and one with a fraud mentality,” he reiterated.

PM Shehbaz then urged the nation to think. “When we came into the government, we were at the brink of default. But we prevented that […] these are the bitter truths.”

The hearing

The prime minister on Saturday appeared before a special court in Lahore in the Rs16 billion money laundering case against him and his son Hamza Shahbaz filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

During the hearing today, the premier’s counsel, Mohammad Amjad Pervaiz, said that Hamza had submitted a request, excusing himself from appearing before the court due to medical reasons.

The lawyer then presented his arguments in his client’s plea for acquittal, saying that FIA had removed charges of Rs9 billion from the challan.

“It said that the five accounts, linked to Rs9bn, were not associated with Suleiman Shehbaz or the Sharif groups but belonged to Mushtaq Cheeni. But the agency has not yet initiated any inquiry against him,” he said.

Pervaiz went on to contend that the kickbacks and bribes mentioned in the first information report (FIR) were “just mere stories” and never included in the challan.

“The court has recently dismissed a similar case against Moonis Elahi,” he added.

Here, the judge of the Special Court (Central-I), Ijaz Hassan Awan, inquired if the judgment of the Lahore High Court (LHC) in the PML-Q leader’s case had been issued.

“Yes, the judgment is here. We will present a verified copy of it in court,” Pervaiz replied, adding that indictment in the case against PM Shehbaz and his son was not possible nor could it continue any further.

“The prime minister appears before the court to uphold the law.”

At one point during the hearing, Judge Awan asked if Maqsood, one of the suspects in the case, was interrogated during the investigation. To this, the lawyer replied that Maqsood had passed away earlier this year.

“The FIA had not inquired him […] Maqsood used to pay tax and was also audited. But he is no longer here so nothing can be said,” he said.

Pervaiz further argued that FIA’s case was “political” and lacked evidence. “It is just a story written by the then-interior minister. It seems as if someone saw the Netflix series Money Heist and formed this case.”

Subsequently, PM Shehbaz took the rostrum and said that during his tenure as chief minister of Punjab, he gave up his salary and other benefits amounting to Rs100 million.

“I used to bear my own travelling expenses and am not even taking my salary as the prime minister,” he said. “I am giving up millions on one side, do you think I will do money laundering of Rs2.5 million?”

Here, the court took a 15-minute break.

When the hearing resumed, Pervaiz began his arguments against the charges on Hamza.

“There are no charges regarding bribery. Shehbaz and Hamza didn’t take any kickbacks,” the lawyer contended, elaborating that opening a benami account or operating it could not be counted as money laundering.

FIA hid statements of bankers deliberately, Pervaiz said.

For his part, the FIA lawyer said that bankers were not required by the agency, hence their statements were discluded from the challan.

Here, the judge asked for details of others accused in the case, apart from Shehbaz and Hamza. “The rest of the accused persons are charged with aiding and abetting,” Pervaiz replied, adding that there were only three main suspects in the case.

Meanwhile, the FIA prosecutor said that the case record was the same as it was before the “regime change”. “We didn’t make any changes to it even after Shehbaz Sharif was appointed the prime minister.”

Subsequently, the court adjourned the hearing till October 11 and instructed Pervaiz to prepare a table comprising the evidence against every charge in the case.

Charges against Hamza, Shehbaz

The FIA had in December 2021 submitted the challan against Shehbaz and Hamza to a special court for their alleged involvement in laundering an amount of Rs16bn in the sugar scam case.

“The investigation team has detected 28 benami accounts of the Shehbaz family through which money laundering of Rs16.3bn was committed during 2008-18. The FIA examined the money trail of 17,000 credit transactions,” according to an FIA report submitted to the court.

The amount was kept in “hidden accounts” and given to Shehbaz in a personal capacity, the report added.

This amount (Rs16bn) has nothing to do with the sugar business (of the Shehbaz family), it claimed. The money received from the accounts of low-wage employees by Shehbaz was transferred outside Pakistan via hundi/hawala networks, ultimately destined for beneficial use of his family members, the FIA had alleged.

“Eleven low-paid employees of the Sharif group who ‘held and possessed’ the laundered proceeds on behalf of the principal accused, are found guilty of facilitating money laundering. The three other co-accused of the Sharif group also actively facilitated the money laundering,” the agency had said.