Zardari's judicial remand extended till Aug 19

Former president requests provision of A-class prison and medical facilities

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s judicial remand was extended by three days on Friday and the former president will now be presented in the accountability court on August 19.

The National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) prosecutor claimed during the hearing that a new development has been made in the fake accounts case.

Court extends Zardari's physical remand by fortnight

The former president, while speaking in court, lamented that he was not allowed to meet his daughters despite the issuance of court orders.

Zardari also requested the accountability court to provide him with A-class prison and medical facilities.

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.

Zardari's physical remand extended by 11 days

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 2018, Zardari’s close aide Hussain Lawai and three 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.