Zardari, Talpur indicted in mega money laundering case

All the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges against them

ISLAMABAD:

An accountability court in Islamabad on Monday indicted former president Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and other accused in the mega-money laundering reference pertaining to the fake accounts and summoned three witnesses in the case on the next hearing.

The indictment was announced during the hearing of three corruption references – fake bank accounts, Park Lane and Thatta Water Supply -- by Judge Azam Khan.

Zardari reached the court along with his sister Faryal and daughter Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, while other accused also marked their presence.

However, the former president’s counsel Farooq H Naek could not appear before the court due to his commitments at the Supreme Court and was represented by his junior lawyer.

The court indicted 14 accused including Zardari and Faryal in the case.

Other accused who had been indicted include Khawaja Anwar Majeed, Hussain Lawai, Taha Raza, Arif Khan, Muhammad Umair, Mustafa Zulqarnain, Khawaja Suleman Younus, Imran Khan, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Bilal Sheikh and Adeel Shah.

Among the accused, Hussain Lawai and Taha Raza are under arrest while Khawaja Anwar Majeed was presented in the court through an online video call.

Karachi accountability court registrar was also present on the occasion who identified Majeed.

The court handed over the charge sheet to the accused present in the court along with to the counsels of two jailed accused. All the accused pleaded not guilty.

Out of the 69 witnesses in the reference, the court summoned three witnesses Ahsan Aslam, Zahoor Hussain and Muhamamd Atif at the next hearing and adjourned the hearing of the case until October 13.

In the Park Lane and Thatta Water Supply references, the court expressed displeasure over the absence of the accused and adjourned the process of indictment until October 5.

The court issued arrest warrants for Park Lane reference accused Sher Ali and other three accused in the Thatta Water Supply reference.

Earlier in the day, Zardari challenged the mega money laundering and the Park Lane reference trials in the Islamabad High Court, pleading not guilty in both the cases.

Last week, the accountability court had rejected Zardari's plea seeking to quash three references related to the fake bank accounts case.

Through his counsel Farooq H Naek, Zardari had challenged the filing of the supplementary references in the ongoing cases of money laundering, Park Lane and Thatta Water Supply reference.

Zardari is facing multiple corruption cases that have stemmed from a mega money laundering scandal, which came into the limelight in 2018.

The former president, Faryal and several of their business associates are being probed as part of a 2015 case regarding fake accounts and fictitious transactions — which were initially found to have totalled Rs35 billion — conducted through 29 ‘benami’ accounts.