FIA summons Zardari, Talpur on Aug 4 in money-laundering probe

KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has summoned former president Asif Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur in money laundering probe on August 4.

The agency has issued notices to both to appear before a joint investigation team, which is probing the matter.

The FIA is investigating 32 people in relation to money-laundering from fictitious accounts, under which Zardari’s close aide and Pakistan Stock Exchange Chairman Hussain Lawai was also arrested earlier this month.

FIA had earlier summoned Talpur and Zardari on July 11, however, the siblings had failed to appear before the agency.

Talpur later asked FIA to provide more time to the two for submitting a response.

The probe

The FIA inquiry started when the financial monitoring unit of the State Bank of Pakistan generated a 'suspicious transaction report' in January this year regarding ten bank accounts.

Sources maintain that over 20 ‘benami’ accounts at a private bank were opened in 2013, 2014 and 2015 from where transactions worth billions of rupees were made.

The amount according to FIA sources is said to be black money gathered from various kickbacks, commissions and bribes. But despite these huge transactions, the bank authorities never reported them to the authorities concerned including the FIA.