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ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has summoned former president Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur in the multi-billion money laundering and fake bank accounts case.
Pakistan Peoples Party leader Zardari and MPA Talpur have been asked to appear before an investigation team at the FIA headquarters on Monday, according to sources in the agency.
The FIA has been asked by the Supreme Court to submit a comprehensive report in connection with the fake accounts case on Tuesday.
Mr Zardari and Ms Talpur have not joined the investigation in the case. Instead, they have expressed lack of confidence over the investigation team probing the case.
Another 15 suspicious bank accounts detected, according to FIA official
The FIA has registered an FIR under Sections 419 (cheating by impersonation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 109 (abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code, Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 3 and 4 of the Anti-money Laundering Act.
A banking court of Karachi has issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Mr Zardari and Ms Talpur and other accused in this case. However, Mr Zardari and Ms Talpur have obtained protective bail till Sept 4 from the Islamabad High Court.
Those who have been declared absconders by the trial court include Mr Zardari, Ms Talpur, chairman of a private bank Hussain Lawai, Anwar Majeed, Abdul Ghani Majeed, Aslam Masood, Mohammad Arif Khan, Adeel Shah Rashidi, Nasser Abdullah Hussain, Mohammad Ashraf, Adnan Jawed, Mohammad Umair, Iqbal Arain, Qasim Ali, Shahzad Ali, Azam Wazir Khan, Sher Mohammad Mugheri, Zain Malik, Mohammad Iqbal Khan Noori, Nimra Majid and Mustafa Zulqarnain.
The FIA on Aug 15 arrested Anwar Majeed, a close aide of Mr Zardari, and his son on the Supreme Court premises after they appeared before the court in this case.
Our staff reporter adds from Karachi: According to a senior official of the FIA, in addition to 29 bank accounts already under scrutiny, the investigators have “detected 15 more suspicious accounts”.
These accounts were opened in the names of persons other than those in whose names the 29 accounts were opened, said the official. Up to Rs1 billion, Rs2bn and Rs3bn had been transferred from these newly discovered accounts, he added.
On Saturday, the official said, the investigators obtained remand of Anwar Majeed and his son A.G. Majeed from the trial court till Monday. Then the investigators approached the administration of the National Institute of Cardio-Vascular Diseases, where Mr Majeed had been admitted to, for getting his custody for investigation purposes. His son is already in FIA custody.
Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2018
