The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Karachi on Wednesday arrested the president of Sindh Bank and two other senior officials in the fake accounts case in which former president Asif Ali Zardari and his business partners are co-accused.

"Tahir Ahsan, the president of Sindh Bank, was arrested in the fake accounts case from Karachi,” according to a brief statement issued by the anti-graft body.

Other suspects, namely Syed Nadeem Altaf — who is the executive vice president of Sindh Bank — and Bilal Sheikh, a former president and current director of Sindh Bank, were also apprehended.

“The accused persons will be produced before the respected Accountability Court in Karachi for the grant of transit remand. After remand from the court, the accused persons will be shifted to Islamabad as per law,” read the statement.

According to the corruption watchdog, the arrests were made by NAB in Karachi in coordination with the bureau's Rawalpindi team and on the orders of the bureau chairman.

The fake bank accounts case involves alleged money laundering worth billions of rupees through 29 accounts, which were found opened in three banks — Summit Bank, Sindh Bank and United Bank Ltd.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had named PPP leaders Asif Ali Zardari, his sibling Faryal Talpur, Omni Group chairman Anwar Majeed, his sons and over 10 others as suspects in an interim charge sheet filed in a banking court in August last year.

The case was transferred in March this year from the banking court in Karachi to the accountability court of Rawalpindi for trial.