LARKANA: A team of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Sunday raided Naudero House, the ancestral home of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, and arrested its in-charge, Nadeem Bhutto.

Abdul Jabbar Bhutto, a brother of Nadeem, confirmed to Dawn late on Sunday that his brother had been picked up by a NAB team.

Sources said that the raid was conducted by officials of the NAB’s Sukkur office.

They said Nadeem had been taken into custody in connection with the fake bank accounts case and that he would be produced before the accountability court of Sukkur on Monday.

The sources said Nadeem Bhutto, said to be a close aide of PPP co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari, allegedly worked as his front man.

They said Nadeem was responsible for taking care of the financial affairs of Naudero House.

Nadeem’s brother, Abdul Jabbar, was the personal photographer of the Bhutto family. He shifted to Islamabad in 1998.

Mr Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, Omni Group’s Anwar Majeed and his son Abdul Ghani Majeed, former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairperson Hussain Lawai, Summit Bank senior vice president Taha Raza are among those being investigated in the fake bank accounts case related to alleged money laundering of billions of rupees through fictitious bank accounts.

The accountability court of Islamabad on April 16 adjourned until April 29 the hearing of the fake bank accounts case. Mr Zardari and Ms Talpur appeared in the accountability court amid tight security.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2019