Record of fake accounts case set right, submitted with Islamabad court: sources

ISLAMABAD: The record of a case pertaining to mega money laundering through fake accounts was set right and submitted with an accountability court in Islamabad on Thursday, sources told Geo News.

A banking court in Karachi rearranged the documents relating to the high-profile case and sent them to the accountability court, the sources said.

They said the record was earlier transferred to the accountability court by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which was returned by the registrar for the pages were not found in order.

The sources said the record, which only includes documents brought on judicial record, would again be examined by the accountability court.

The report submitted by the investigating officer (IO) has not been included in the record, they said.

The IO report and evidence would be submitted after the trial begins, the sources added.

The case

The FIA is investigating more than 30 people in relation to money laundering from fictitious accounts, including Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur. Zardari’s close aide Hussain Lawai was arrested in July 2018 in connection with the probe.

The former president’s other close aide and Omni Group chairman Anwar Majeed a close aide and Omni Group chairman and his son, Abdul Ghani, were arrested by FIA in August 2018.

Several ‘benami’ accounts at multiple 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.