Fake accounts case: Zardari granted pre-arrest bail till May 15

Asif Ali Zardari also seeks details of all cases NAB has and is planning on filing against him

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday granted pre-arrest bail till May 15 to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in a case pertaining to illegal awarding of a water supply contract to a private company.

The former president was summoned by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) today after filing reference against the holders of public office, legal persons and others regarding the illegal award of a contract by Government of Sindh special initiative department to M/S Harish & Company.

The case is part of an ongoing investigation being conducted by the anti-graft watchdog after the Supreme Court forwarded the joint investigation team (JIT) report in the fake accounts scandal and directed it to probe money laundering of billions of rupees through fictitious bank accounts and file references.



PPP lawmaker Faryal Talpur, Omni Group’s Anwar Majeed and his sons, and former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairperson Hussain Lawai are among others being investigated in the case.

Since the matter was forwarded to an accountability court in Islamabad after a Karachi banking court accepted NAB’s transfer request, Zardari has received at least four call-up notice. He has received pre-arrest bail in all of them.

In the fresh pre-arrest bail application filed to pre-empt any attempts by the Bureau to arrest the former president, Zardari maintains innocence and accuses NAB of “malafide intentions and ulterior motives beyond the scope of Section 19 of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999.

Section 19 - Power to call for information: The Chairman NAB or any authorised officer may, during the course of an inquiry in connection with a contravention of any provision of this Ordinance:
(a) call for information from any person for the purpose of satisfying himself whether there has been any contravention of the provisions of this Ordinance or any rule or order made thereunder; (b) require any person to produce or deliver any document or thing useful or relevant to the inquiry; (c) examine any person acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case; and (d) require any bank or financial institution, notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, to provide any information relating to any person whosoever.

The petition reads that the call-up notice violated Article 13 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Article 13 – Protection against double punishment and self-incrimination: No person (a) shall be prosecuted or punished for the same offense more than once or (b) shall, when accused of an offense, be compelled to be a witness against himself.”

The plea further adds that “throughout the course of history the petitioner [Zardari] has been made to suffer on account of political vicitmisation and mudslinging by involving him in false and fabricated cases”. It states that the PPP leader has served an accumulated 11 years jail term “in false and politically motivated cases”.

Request to furnish details of cases

In the bail plea, Zardari has also prayed to the high court to direct the anti-corruption unit to furnish details of the number of cases it has or plans to file against him.

He wants the details to be prepared for pre-emptive measures fearing arrest. The PPP co-chairman stressed that there was no likelihood that the “so-called trial may culminate in the conviction of the petitioner”.



The fake accounts case history

Information regarding the fake accounts came to the fore when an intelligence agency picked up a prominent money changer in an unrelated case. In December 2015, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) began a discreet investigation into certain bank accounts through which multi-billion rupee transactions have been made.

Investigators have so far identified 29 accounts which received payments, totaling at least Rs35 billion. The probe was initially shelved but resumed almost a year and a half later with FIA’s State Bank circle initiating 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 and then 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 then chief justice ordered the formation of a joint investigation team to quicken the pace of the investigation. The JIT identified 11,500 bank accounts and 924 account holders at the start of their investigation. After the JIT report, the names of 172 individuals were placed on the no-fly list by the interior ministry.



The JIT report in a nutshell

According to the report, the JIT identified 11,500 bank accounts and 924 account holders at the start of their investigation.

Its experts generated 59 Suspected Transaction Reports (STR) and 24,500 Cash Transaction Reports. That means the transactions were flagged as suspicious.

Due to the high quantum of transactions, the JIT decided on a threshold of Rs10million “to track, follow and minutely investigate the flow of funds beyond the immediate counterparties and determine the source of funds and ultimate beneficiaries.”

It questioned 767 individuals, including Zardari and Talpur, while Bilawal submitted written responses.

It has since had the names of 147 individuals placed on the Provisional National Identification List, which would allow authorities to identify if those individuals try to enter or exit the country through an airport. After the report was submitted to the SC, the names of 172 individuals have been placed on the no-fly list by the interior ministry on the JIT’s request.

The investigations have focused on 32 accounts of 11 fake entities. The first account, belonging to M/S Lucky Enterprises, opened in January 2010 and remained active till January 2017. It was used for 13,809 transactions.



The investigation uncovered that the 11 sole proprietorship entities were registered in the names of low-level employees of the Omni Group, as well as random individuals including a deceased person. All the accounts were operated by Omni Group executives.

A thorough review of the JIT report shows that representatives of State Bank and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) played a vital role in the investigation and preparation of the final report and recommendations.

Read the full text of the JIT report here