Zardari gets relief in money laundering reference

Four graft cases, including one against ex-president and his co-accused, returned to NAB

ISLAMABAD:

A court in Islamabad on Friday returned the mega money-laundering reference and other cases against PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari and his co-accused back to the anti-graft body under the recent amendments made to the country’s accountability law.

The hearing of the money-laundering reference against the former president and other suspects was held in an accountability court in the federal capital.

Overall, the court sent back four references to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir announced the decision after hearing the arguments of the parties involved in the case.

During the hearing, Zardari’s lawyer Farooq Naek and NAB prosecutors appeared before the court.

Naek apprised the judge that following the amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance, the reference no longer fell in his court’s domain.

He added that the accountability court could no longer hold a trial regarding the reference.

Also read: Zardari renews call for Charter of Economy

The judge sent back the money-laundering reference against Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, close aide Hussain Lawai and others to NAB.

The plot allotment reference against Manzoor Qadir and other suspects was also returned to the anti-graft body.

The Sindh Bank reference against Bilal Sheikh and other suspects was also sent back.

The court returned the Pink Residency reference back to NAB as well.

In September 2020, an accountability court in Islamabad indicted the PPP co-chairperson, his sister Faryal and others accused in the mega money-laundering reference pertaining to the fake accounts case.

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

Also read: Election only when I decide, says Zardari

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

In October 2015, the anti-corruption wing of the Federal Investigation Agency in Karachi received a tip-off of suspicious transactions from three private banks.

The profiles of the account holders did not match their income.

The FIA suspected that these accounts were being run by the Zardari and Omni groups.

In June 2018, the Supreme Court took a suo motu notice of the fake accounts and ordered a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the matter.

The JIT found out that 32 bank accounts were being operated by 11 “fake” entities to launder money from “kickbacks, land grabbing and largescale misappropriation of public funds”.