ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad on Monday rejected the exemption plea of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur in money laundering case.
The court ordered the duo and all 16 suspects nominated in the case to appear on April 16 and adjourned the hearing till then.
Earlier in the day, Zardari and Talpur appeared before an accountability court.
Around 2,000 police personnel and as many as 200 Punjab Rangers were stationed outside the court for the hearing.
Talking to media, DIG Operations Waqaruddin Syed stated that no unauthorized person will be allowed inside the court and no one will be allowed to take the law in their hands.
Zardari, who reached the capital earlier, has asked the PPP workers not to come to the court.
Earlier on March 20, PPP workers and police clashed outside the National Accountability (NAB) court where Zardari and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari have recorded their statements.
Both were questioned by the NAB teams under the supervision of Irfan Mangi, DG NAB Rawalpindi, for almost two hours in three different cases.
THE CASE:
n December 2015, the Federal Investigation Agency began a discreet investigation into certain bank accounts through which multi-billion rupee transactions have been made. According to FIA sources, information regarding the fake accounts came to the fore when an intelligence agency picked up a prominent money changer in an unrelated case.
As the monitoring and investigation of these suspicious accounts continued, it surfaced that five of these accounts in two banks – the Sindh Bank and Summit Bank – had been used for transactions worth around Rs15 billion.
Investigation showed the accounts were operated by fake companies. Funds were credited into these accounts from contractors with multi-billion rupee contracts with the Sindh government. The money was found to have been transferred to accounts of companies owned and operated by the Omni Group, whose chairperson, Anwar Majeed, is a close aide of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari. Another beneficiary was Nasir Lootah, the chairperson of Summit Bank.
The probe, however, was shelved. It resumed almost a year and a half later. FIA’s State Bank circle initiated a formal inquiry in January, 2018.
By June, the FIA had several high-profile names on its list but was unable to make headway – for several reasons. It was at his point that the Supreme Court intervened. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar took suo motu notice of the ‘slow progress’ in the money laundering case.
In July, Zardari’s close aides; Hussain Lawai, Taha Raza and two others were arrested. Subsequently, the first case was registered in the mega-corruption scandal.
The FIA submitted its report to the apex court on July 8 which revealed a web of companies and accounts that were being used to transfer billions of rupees. In all, 29 accounts were identified that received payments, totaling at least Rs35 billion.
In August, Omni Group chief Anwar Majeed was arrested along with son Abdul Ghani Majeed when they returned to the country on being summoned by the apex court. They are now on judicial remand.
