A local court has granted interim bail to former minister and PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi till July 4 in a money laundering case on Wednesday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel. 

Moonis Elahi filed an application seeking interim bail in a banking crime court in Lahore. Amjad Pervez advocate submitted his application petition to the court.

The petition states that the Federal Investigation Agency has accused Moonis of laundering Rs24 billion. The National Accountability Bureau has already given him a clean chit, the petition says adding that no legal requirements were considered before the registration of case against the former minister.

The petitioner requested the court to grant him interim bail so that he could become part of the investigation.

Accepting his plea, the court granted Moonis interim bail till July 4. 

The FIA on June 14 registered a money laundering case against Moonis Elahi, son of Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi, and others in a case pertaining to junior Elahi’s alleged involvement in a scam to the tune of Rs720 million.

The agency also arrested two of Elahi's close associates: Nawaz Bhatti and Mazhar Iqbal on the charges that the two men used to facilitate the PML-Q leader to embezzle money.

The FIA also accused Moonis of using ‘hundi’ to transfer money out of Pakistan, saying it had "solid evidence" against the former minister.

According to the FIA's first information report, the case against Elahi was registered on Tuesday under Sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention), 109 (punishment for abetment), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using a genuine forged document) of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 and Section 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010.

The state has been named as the complainant in the FIR.

Reporter Shaheen Attique