Fake accounts case: NAB granted 11-day physical remand of Zardari

Former president to be presented before court on June 21

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was given 11-day physical remand of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari a day after the former president was arrested in the fake accounts case.

Prior to Zardari's arrival in court, he underwent a mandatory medical check-up by a team of doctors from Polyclinic and the former president was declared fit for physical remand after the examination.

The former president, while talking to the media outside the courtroom, said the "selected" prime minister has no knowledge of the matter and the "arrest is the interior minister's doing".

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials alleged that there were eight concrete grounds for Zardari's arrest. "Zardari laundered money through frontman and unnamed institutions," NAB officials told the court.

Zardari's counsel, Farooq H Naek, further maintained that the trial will only be fair if the investigation is impartial. The alleged front companies for Park Lane and Parthenon were mentioned before the bench, to which Naek objected that "there was no connection between the fake accounts case and Park Lane".

The accountability watchdog is expected to appeal for the former president's physical remand.

Zardari has also filed a petition requesting additional facilities and has sought permission for the provision of a personal servant. The PPP co-chairman has also requested medical facilities.

Strict security arrangements have been made ahead of Zardari's appearance in court. A least 1,500 security personnel have been deployed in and around the accountability court premises.

Authorities plan to restrict access of party workers to the area.

Zardari was arrested by NAB on Monday hours after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) recalled the pre-arrest bail granted to him and his sister Faryal Talpur in the fake accounts case.

The co-chairman of the PPP was taken into NAB custody from his residence in the federal capital and was taken to the NAB Rawalpindi office.

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.

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.