Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz have been summoned by a special court in Lahore in connection with a laundering case to the tune of 16 billion Pakistani rupees.

The court has summoned the father-son duo to appear on September 7 for the framing of charges and adjourned the hearing till that date, Dawn reported.

Both were absent during the hearing as their lawyers requested a one-time exemption on their behalf.

Seventy-year-old Shehbaz, and his sons Hamza, 47, and Suleman, 40, were booked in November 2020 by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Anti Money Laundering Act.

The case is being heard by a special court in Lahore, which already granted pre-arrest bails to both father and son.

The court had given them one-time exemption after Shehbaz's lawyer Amjad Pervaiz informed the court that the PM had not been well, while Hamza's lawyer Rao Aurangzeb said that his client had severe back pain and needed rest.

FIA Prosecutor Farooq Bajwa did not object to the exemption, which was granted by the court.

According to the FIA report submitted in the court, the probe team had "detected 28 benami accounts of the Shehbaz family through which money laundering of Rs 16.3bn was committed during 2008-18. The FIA examined the money trail of 17,000 credit transactions."

Benami transactions are those transactions which are made by a person without using his name or by using the name of another.

The amount was kept in hidden accounts and given to Shehbaz in a personal capacity.

"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 report said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz have been summoned by a special court in Lahore in connection with a laundering case to the tune of 16 billion Pakistani rupees.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz have been summoned by a special court in Lahore in connection with a laundering case to the tune of 16 billion Pakistani rupees. The court has summoned the father-son duo to appear on September 7 for the framing of charges and adjourned the hearing till that date, Dawn reported. Both were absent during the hearing as their lawyers requested a one-time exemption on their behalf. Seventy-year-old Shehbaz, and his sons Hamza, 47, and Suleman, 40, were booked in November 2020 by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Anti Money Laundering Act. The case is being heard by a special court in Lahore, which already granted pre-arrest bails to both father and son. The court had given them one-time exemption after Shehbaz's lawyer Amjad Pervaiz informed the court that the PM had not been well, while Hamza's lawyer Rao Aurangzeb said that his client had severe back pain and needed rest. FIA Prosecutor Farooq Bajwa did not object to the exemption, which was granted by the court. According to the FIA report submitted in the court, the probe team had "detected 28 benami accounts of the Shehbaz family through which money laundering of Rs 16.3bn was committed during 2008-18. The FIA examined the money trail of 17,000 credit transactions." Benami transactions are those transactions which are made by a person without using his name or by using the name of another. The amount was kept in hidden accounts and given to Shehbaz in a personal capacity. "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 report said. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Pak PM Shehbaz, son summoned by court in money laundering case

Claiming that there were examples of countries that managed to progress despite similar levels of corruption, Pakistan's Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said that corruption was not the primary reason holding back the country's economic development.

As opposed to corruption, the PML-N leader indicated that the far bigger impediments to Pakistan's growth were "political instability and policy reversals".

"The biggest lesson today is that I can count many countries in the world that have developed despite having similar corruption as ours but you can't point out a single country that has progressed despite political instability and discontinuity of policy," he said while addressing a seminar in Islamabad.

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Countries such as Bangladesh and India have managed to grow even though their corruption problem was just as severe as Pakistan's, according to Iqbal.

Stressing that reforms would require "at least a decade" to truly work, Iqbal said there was a "structural problem" that wasn't allowing Pakistan to take off.

He added that if there was not a continuation in direction for 10 years then no good measure would yield results.

"We have failed to give continuation to policies in this country and a big reason for that is our internal political situation."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistan-slips-to-140-in-corruption-index-find-out-about-india-us-others-447355">Also read |&nbsp;Pakistan slips to 140 in corruption index; find out about India, US &amp; others</a>

Highlighting the requirement of strong fiscal discipline and economic management for economic growth in Pakistan, Iqsal said “We have to move towards export-led growth.”

The planning minister lamented that Pakistan was lagging behind others in the region as its tax-to-GDP ratio had never been above 12 per cent.

“We have to make our youth skilled and educated. Because of the CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) project, we got the attention of the world. The world wanted to invest here,” he said.

Endemic corruption and widespread tax avoidance along with decades of poor economic management by successive governments and military rulers are the reason behind Pakistan's economic woes, according to economic analysts.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, his brother and former premier Nawaz Sharif, and son Hamza have all been embroiled in countless corruption and money laundering allegations.

In 2018, former Prime Minister Imran Khan was voted in by an electorate weary of two-party dynasties on a promise of sweeping away decades of entrenched corruption and cronyism.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

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Claiming that there were examples of countries that managed to progress despite similar levels of corruption, Pakistan's Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said that corruption was not the primary reason holding back the country's economic development.

Claiming that there were examples of countries that managed to progress despite similar levels of corruption, Pakistan's Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said that corruption was not the primary reason holding back the country's economic development. As opposed to corruption, the PML-N leader indicated that the far bigger impediments to Pakistan's growth were "political instability and policy reversals". "The biggest lesson today is that I can count many countries in the world that have developed despite having similar corruption as ours but you can't point out a single country that has progressed despite political instability and discontinuity of policy," he said while addressing a seminar in Islamabad. × Countries such as Bangladesh and India have managed to grow even though their corruption problem was just as severe as Pakistan's, according to Iqbal. Stressing that reforms would require "at least a decade" to truly work, Iqbal said there was a "structural problem" that wasn't allowing Pakistan to take off. He added that if there was not a continuation in direction for 10 years then no good measure would yield results. "We have failed to give continuation to policies in this country and a big reason for that is our internal political situation." Also read | Pakistan slips to 140 in corruption index; find out about India, US & others Highlighting the requirement of strong fiscal discipline and economic management for economic growth in Pakistan, Iqsal said “We have to move towards export-led growth.” The planning minister lamented that Pakistan was lagging behind others in the region as its tax-to-GDP ratio had never been above 12 per cent. “We have to make our youth skilled and educated. Because of the CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) project, we got the attention of the world. The world wanted to invest here,” he said. Endemic corruption and widespread tax avoidance along with decades of poor economic management by successive governments and military rulers are the reason behind Pakistan's economic woes, according to economic analysts. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, his brother and former premier Nawaz Sharif, and son Hamza have all been embroiled in countless corruption and money laundering allegations. In 2018, former Prime Minister Imran Khan was voted in by an electorate weary of two-party dynasties on a promise of sweeping away decades of entrenched corruption and cronyism. (With inputs from agencies) Watch WION's live TV here:

Pakistan's planning minister says corruption does not impede economic development

According to &nbsp;Transparency International's latest Corruption Perception Index (CPI 2021), Pakistan slipped 16 places to 140 in the list of 180 countries.

The agency lists countries across the world on the "perceived levels of public sector corruption". On a scale of 0 to 100, it regards 0 as "highly corrupt" and 100 as "very clean".

Pakistan scored 28/100 to rank 140 in the list while tieing level with Myanmar. Denmark, Finland and New Zealand were ranked the least corrupt scoring 88 finishing on top followed closely by Norway, Singapore and Sweden who scored 85 points.

This is Pakistan's&nbsp;worst drop in these rankings since 2010. In 2010, Pakistan had registered its worst performance and was relegated to 146th rank.

Berlin-nase Transparency International said that corruption in Pakistan has increased in spite of Pakistani watchdog's claim that it had collected 800 billion Pakistani rupees.

This slump in rankings reflects badly on Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan who had vowed to carve a 'Naya' (new) Pakistan when he took office in 2018. At that time Pakistan's scored 33 out of 100 (compared to 28 out of 100 now). The score fell to 32 in 2019, 31 in 2020.

Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany finished in the top-10 list of "clean" countries followed closely by the UK ranked 11th(score:78) and&nbsp;Hong Kong(score: 76) ranked 12.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/somalia-president-suspends-prime-minister-over-corruption-charges-440324">Also Read |&nbsp;Somalia: President 'suspends' prime minister over corruption charges</a>

The report&nbsp;noted that "as corruption efforts stagnate worldwide, human rights and democracy are also under assault" while asserting that the COVID-19 pandemic "is being used in many countries as an excuse to curtail basic freedoms".

The agency said 131 countries have made "no significant progress" against corruption in the last decade and "two-thirds of countries have scored below 50 "indicating that they have serious corruption problems".

The United States was ranked 27th with a score of 67. India was ranked 85th in the list scoring 40 points with no change in its ranking from the previous year. The Maldives too was ranked 85th on the list.

India's neighbour Bangladesh was ranked 147 with 26 points and Sri Lanka was ranked 102 as it scored&nbsp;37 points.

Afghanistan was ranked as one of the most corrupt finishing 174th in the list with a score of 16 along with North Korea and Yemen. Somalia and Syria were ranked at the bottom finishing 178 in the 180-nation list with South Sudan finishing last at 180 scoring 11 points.

Iran, Tajikistan and Guatemala finished 150th in the corruption index.

To come up with Corruption Perception Index (CPI), following manifestations of corruption in public sector are taken into consideration

<ul>
	<li>Bribery</li>
	<li>Diversion of public funds</li>
	<li>Officials using their public office for private gain without facing consequences</li>
	<li>Ability of governments to contain corruption in the public sector</li>
	<li>Excessive red tape in the public sector which may increase opportunities for corruption</li>
	<li>Nepotistic appointments in the civil service</li>
	<li>Laws ensuring that public officials must disclose their finances and potential conflicts of interest</li>
	<li>Legal protection for people who report cases of bribery and corruption</li>
	<li>State capture by narrow vested interests</li>
	<li>Access to information on public affairs/government activities</li>
</ul>

Imran used CPI data to slam previous governments

Something that Imran Khan used in past to&nbsp;target previous governments in Pakistan has come back to bite him. He has been using this data since 2004.

(With inputs from Agencies)

According to Transparency International's latest Corruption Perception Index (CPI 2021), Pakistan slipped 16 places to 140 in the list of 180 countries. The agency lists countries across the world on the "perceived levels of public sector corruption".

According to Transparency International's latest Corruption Perception Index (CPI 2021), Pakistan slipped 16 places to 140 in the list of 180 countries. The agency lists countries across the world on the "perceived levels of public sector corruption". On a scale of 0 to 100, it regards 0 as "highly corrupt" and 100 as "very clean". Pakistan scored 28/100 to rank 140 in the list while tieing level with Myanmar. Denmark, Finland and New Zealand were ranked the least corrupt scoring 88 finishing on top followed closely by Norway, Singapore and Sweden who scored 85 points. This is Pakistan's worst drop in these rankings since 2010. In 2010, Pakistan had registered its worst performance and was relegated to 146th rank. Berlin-nase Transparency International said that corruption in Pakistan has increased in spite of Pakistani watchdog's claim that it had collected 800 billion Pakistani rupees. This slump in rankings reflects badly on Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan who had vowed to carve a 'Naya' (new) Pakistan when he took office in 2018. At that time Pakistan's scored 33 out of 100 (compared to 28 out of 100 now). The score fell to 32 in 2019, 31 in 2020. Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany finished in the top-10 list of "clean" countries followed closely by the UK ranked 11th(score:78) and Hong Kong(score: 76) ranked 12. Also Read | Somalia: President 'suspends' prime minister over corruption charges The report noted that "as corruption efforts stagnate worldwide, human rights and democracy are also under assault" while asserting that the COVID-19 pandemic "is being used in many countries as an excuse to curtail basic freedoms". The agency said 131 countries have made "no significant progress" against corruption in the last decade and "two-thirds of countries have scored below 50 "indicating that they have serious corruption problems". The United States was ranked 27th with a score of 67. India was ranked 85th in the list scoring 40 points with no change in its ranking from the previous year. The Maldives too was ranked 85th on the list. India's neighbour Bangladesh was ranked 147 with 26 points and Sri Lanka was ranked 102 as it scored 37 points. Afghanistan was ranked as one of the most corrupt finishing 174th in the list with a score of 16 along with North Korea and Yemen. Somalia and Syria were ranked at the bottom finishing 178 in the 180-nation list with South Sudan finishing last at 180 scoring 11 points. Iran, Tajikistan and Guatemala finished 150th in the corruption index. To come up with Corruption Perception Index (CPI), following manifestations of corruption in public sector are taken into consideration Bribery Diversion of public funds Officials using their public office for private gain without facing consequences Ability of governments to contain corruption in the public sector Excessive red tape in the public sector which may increase opportunities for corruption Nepotistic appointments in the civil service Laws ensuring that public officials must disclose their finances and potential conflicts of interest Legal protection for people who report cases of bribery and corruption State capture by narrow vested interests Access to information on public affairs/government activities Imran used CPI data to slam previous governments Something that Imran Khan used in past to target previous governments in Pakistan has come back to bite him. He has been using this data since 2004. (With inputs from Agencies)

Pakistan slips to 140 in corruption index; find out about India, US & others

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