Fake accounts case adjourned as reference copies yet to be provided to all suspects
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An accountability court on Friday adjourned hearing the fake accounts case without making any substantial progress after it was informed that copies of the reference had not yet been provided to all 30 of the suspects nominated.
Accountability judge Mohammad Bashir, who was hearing the case, said the court will start the indictment process once all the accused had a copy of the reference filed against them by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The judge meanwhile extended until October 22 the judicial remand of former president Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur, chief suspects in the case, who had been produced before the court today.
The investigation officer of the case told judge Bashir that the anti-corruption watchdog had asked the interior ministry to issue red warrants for Younis Qadwai and Azam Wazir, both of whom are nominated in the case and are currently abroad.
He said a supplementary reference will be filed by the next hearing. He further said that the supplementary reference has yet to be approved by the NAB chief.
The hearing was subsequently adjourned till October 22.
The case pertains to a massive money laundering scam that was being probed by the Federal Investigation Agency. The suspects include Zardari, Talpur, former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairman Hussain Lawai, Omni Group CEO Anwar Majeed and his sons and several other high profile persons. The case was later taken over by NAB on the Supreme Court's orders.
Zardari's meeting with Bilawal, daughters
While in court, the former president also met his daughters, Aseefa and Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari.
He also met Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who briefed him on his meeting with JUI-F Chief Fazlur Rehman, who has announced he will be setting out on a 'long march' on October 27 in a bid to bring down the government.
The two also discussed the country's general political situation.
Zardari, in an informal conversation with the media, said his doctors had recommended that he should be shifted to a hospital because his blood sugar level often drops. He said that if he suddenly falls ill, the jail administration will not be able to get him medical help in time and suggested that a hospital ward be declared a sub-jail for him instead.
