NAB opens probe into Zardari’s US flat

The country's top graft buster has opened another investigation against former president and PPP supreme leader Asif Ali Zardari in connection with his alleged apartment in the US and sought his response by July 24.

In the notice served on Zardari, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has told the PPP co-chairman that his apartment in Manhattan, New York had not been declared in Pakistan and prima facie, no legal money was sent abroad for buying the said apartment.

The accountability watchdog has asked Zardari how he arranged money to buy the property and directed him to submit the details of his alleged apartment by July 24.

Meanwhile, the former president has also approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for a pre-arrest bail in the case. In the plea – filed through Farooq H Naek – Zardari has nominated NAB chairman, DG Rawalpindi and an investigation officer as respondents in the case.

His medical report from the Ziauddin Hospital has also been enclosed with the plea.

Read Former president Asif Zardari admitted to Karachi hospital

In his plea, the PPP co-chairman said he required more time to submit a response to NAB. He said he is suffering from various ailments and is undergoing treatment.

He asked the court to grant him bail until a final decision in the case and to declare the notice sent by NAB as illegal. On July 3, Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry said NAB had recovered Rs33 billion in the fake accounts case involving the former president.

"With such a recovery, the volume of corruption in the country could be gauged easily as how the past rulers had looted the country and Sindh [in particular]," Fawad had written on Twitter. "The actual volume of corruption in the fake accounts case is a whopping Rs5,000 billion," he had claimed.