Faryal Talpur’s remand extended till Jan 7, Zardari exempted from appearance

Former president is in Karachi for medical treatment

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Tuesday extended the judicial remand of Sindh lawmaker Faryal Talpur till January 7 next year, while also granting former president Asif Ali Zardari's request for exemption from appearance in the fake accounts case.

The accountability court accepted the request filed by Farooq H Naek which cited Zaradri’s deteriorating health as the reason for exemption.

Naek told the court that doctors have advised Zardari against unnecessary travel. Talpur, Abdul Ghani Majeed and other accused were produced in court.



On December 11, PPP co-chairperson Zardari was granted bail by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) more than five months after he had been taken into custody by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on charges of financial corruption and money laundering.

After his release, the ex-president was shifted to Karachi for medical treatment.

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, totalling 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 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. After the JIT report, the names of 172 individuals were placed on the no-fly list by the interior ministry.