FIA seeks time to reply to Anwar Majeed's plea
October 16, 2018
KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Monday sought time to reply to a plea filed against it by Omni Group Chairman Anwar Majeed, who is a suspect in an ongoing money laundering case.
The Sindh High Court (SHC) heard Majeed’s plea against the FIA today. However, the FIA sought time to reply to the Omni Group chairman’s plea following which the court summoned investigation officer Najaf Mirza on November 20.
In his plea, Majeed stated that the FIA was preparing fake cases against him and requested requesting the court to stop the agency from "harassing" him.
The Omni Group chairman had also demanded that the agency issue details of the cases against him, including the inquiry that is currently underway.
Majeed, a close aide of former president Asif Ali Zardari, and his son Abdul Ghani Majeed were arrested by FIA on August 15 in a case pertaining to alleged money laundering through fake bank accounts.
The case
The FIA is investigating 32 people in relation to money laundering from fictitious accounts, including Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur. Zardari’s close aide Hussain Lawai was arrested in July in connection with the probe.
Over 20 ‘benami’ accounts at some private banks were opened in 2013, 2014 and 2015 from where transactions worth billions of rupees were made, according to sources.
The amount, according to FIA sources, is said to be black money gathered from various kickbacks, commissions and bribes.
The case was initially registered in 2015 against former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairman Lawai.
In August, Lawai and banker Taha Raza were detained and booked for allegedly facilitating the opening of 29 ‘fake’ accounts through which suspicious transactions were made to different companies, including M/s Zardari Group.
