Fake accounts case: IHC extends Zardari, Talpur's interim bail till tomorrow
IHC orders anti-graft body to present records pertaining to fake accounts case on Thursday
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Asif Ali Zardari. PHOTO: BBZ/ INSTAGRAM
ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday extended Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and sister Faryal Talpur's interim bail in the fake bank accounts case till Thursday.
The bench comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani heard the case and issued orders for extension in the interim bail. The court further exempted Zardari and Talpur from arrests.
The IHC further ordered the anti-graft body to present records pertaining to the fake accounts case tomorrow. When asked by the judge as to "why an amount of Rs1.5 billion was transferred into Talpur's bank account," counsel Farooq H Naek replied that the co-accused comes from a family of sugarcane cultivators and that the sugarcane was provided to the sugar mills of the Omni Group. Naek also apprised the court that those accounts were in fact business accounts and were not fake.
NAB authorities alleged that Zardari and Talpur were abettors in an offence and that the duo assisted in transactions pertaining to fake accounts.
Zardari, Bilawal summoned to record statements
The senior PPP leadership, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Asif Ali Zardari, was scheduled to record statements in separate investigations today.
Zardari was summoned in an investigation regarding illegal award of contract for a solar power project that caused Rs10 billion loss to the national exchequer.
However, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) said early Wednesday that former president Zardari had requested through his lawyer Farooq H Naek to be excused from appearing before the bureau. "I have to appear before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) at the same time for a pre-arrest bail appeal." The PPP co-chairman has requested NAB to reschedule after Eid-ul-Fitr.
The bureau is deciding on the matter.
Damning JIT report indicts Zardari, Omni groups
Pre-arrest bail in mega money laundering case
Former president Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking extension in pre-arrest bail in an investigation pertaining to money laundering of billions through fake accounts.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman is an accused in a mega-money laundering case. The pre-arrest bail expires today.
Since a banking court in Karachi accepted NAB's request to transfer the money laundering case to Islamabad, Zardari has received pre-arrest bail in multiple call-up notices.
Accountability Court
Meanwhile, the accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir heard the Pink Residency reference filed by the bureau today. Zardari’s close aides Aftab Memon, Abdul Ghani Majeed and 19 others are accused in the case.
The case has been adjourned till June 13.
The fake accounts case explained
NAB is conducting investigations in pursuance of the Supreme Court’s verdict in the money laundering of billions through fake accounts case wherein it forwarded the joint investigation team (JIT) report with directions to investigate and file references.
Other suspects include Omni Group’s Anwar Majeed and his son Abdul Ghani Majeed, former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairperson Hussain Lawai, Summit Bank Senior Vice-President Taha Raza.
On May 14, the anti-corruption unit furnished details of inquiries, investigations and references in the fake accounts case. In the report, NAB listed down at least eight cases where Zardari’s link had been established. It further added that 22 inquiries and three investigations are underway while three references have been filed.
Names of Zardari, Talpur struck off no-fly list
The fake accounts saga
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.
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.
Fake accounts case: Sindh CM Murad to appear before JIT today
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.
Read the full text of the JIT report here.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday extended Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and sister Faryal Talpur's interim bail in the fake bank accounts case till Thursday.
The bench comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani heard the case and issued orders for extension in the interim bail. The court further exempted Zardari and Talpur from arrests.
The IHC further ordered the anti-graft body to present records pertaining to the fake accounts case tomorrow. When asked by the judge as to "why an amount of Rs1.5 billion was transferred into Talpur's bank account," counsel Farooq H Naek replied that the co-accused comes from a family of sugarcane cultivators and that the sugarcane was provided to the sugar mills of the Omni Group. Naek also apprised the court that those accounts were in fact business accounts and were not fake.
NAB authorities alleged that Zardari and Talpur were abettors in an offence and that the duo assisted in transactions pertaining to fake accounts.
Zardari, Bilawal summoned to record statements
The senior PPP leadership, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Asif Ali Zardari, was scheduled to record statements in separate investigations today.
Zardari was summoned in an investigation regarding illegal award of contract for a solar power project that caused Rs10 billion loss to the national exchequer.
However, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) said early Wednesday that former president Zardari had requested through his lawyer Farooq H Naek to be excused from appearing before the bureau. "I have to appear before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) at the same time for a pre-arrest bail appeal." The PPP co-chairman has requested NAB to reschedule after Eid-ul-Fitr.
The bureau is deciding on the matter.
Damning JIT report indicts Zardari, Omni groups
Pre-arrest bail in mega money laundering case
Former president Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking extension in pre-arrest bail in an investigation pertaining to money laundering of billions through fake accounts.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman is an accused in a mega-money laundering case. The pre-arrest bail expires today.
Since a banking court in Karachi accepted NAB's request to transfer the money laundering case to Islamabad, Zardari has received pre-arrest bail in multiple call-up notices.
Accountability Court
Meanwhile, the accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir heard the Pink Residency reference filed by the bureau today. Zardari’s close aides Aftab Memon, Abdul Ghani Majeed and 19 others are accused in the case.
The case has been adjourned till June 13.
The fake accounts case explained
NAB is conducting investigations in pursuance of the Supreme Court’s verdict in the money laundering of billions through fake accounts case wherein it forwarded the joint investigation team (JIT) report with directions to investigate and file references.
Other suspects include Omni Group’s Anwar Majeed and his son Abdul Ghani Majeed, former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairperson Hussain Lawai, Summit Bank Senior Vice-President Taha Raza.
On May 14, the anti-corruption unit furnished details of inquiries, investigations and references in the fake accounts case. In the report, NAB listed down at least eight cases where Zardari’s link had been established. It further added that 22 inquiries and three investigations are underway while three references have been filed.
Names of Zardari, Talpur struck off no-fly list
The fake accounts saga
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.
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.
Fake accounts case: Sindh CM Murad to appear before JIT today
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.
Read the full text of the JIT report here.