RAWALPINDI, Jan 31: The local accountability courts will resume the hearing of BMW and Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) corruption references against Asif Zardari, the spouse of the former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, on Friday.

The judge of the accountability court No 3, Syed Sakhi Hussain Bukhari, had sent the accused on physical remand on the request of the prosecution that wanted to complete investigations, during the last hearing.

The investigating officer, Hazrat Ali, told the court that he needed time to secure the car’s keys so that it could be shifted from the BMW Centre to the NAB premises. The move, he said, could help the Customs department assess the car’s real value. Besides, the extension of the remand period was required as the name of two more owners of the same vehicle had surfaced but they had not been traced so far. They were reportedly in England, he maintained. Besides Asif Zardari and Sajid Qayyum, Badruddin and Saeed also purchased the BMW car according to the prosecution.

Asif Zardari has been accused of impersonating himself as student and importing 1993 model armoured luxury vehicle with the intention to evade duties. The national exchequer was deprived of Rs10 million due to this deal.

The prosecution claimed the actual price of the bulletproof armoured vehicle, with an unladen weight of 2,560-kg was 55,000 pounds. But, to evade the duty, the accused showed the weight of the car as 1,610-kg purchased at a price of 12,000 pounds.

The import of the car was allegedly arranged by Fareed Veerani, the owner of Afghan Super Store in Karachi, from London in the name of Sajjad Qayyum, a Pakistani student, under the Personal Baggage Scheme. Even the freight charges of the PIA were not fully paid, the prosecution alleged. A sum of Rs5.5 million duty was paid by Dost Mohammad, an employee of the Bilawal House, while the Customs duty was cleared by the Jumbo Customs Clearance Agency.

The prosecution alleged that the accused did not claim the vehicle when it came for maintenance at the workshop of Aitzaz Ahmed, the brother-in-law of former chairman of the Capital Development Authority, Shafi Sehwani. Meanwhile, the judge of accountability court No. 1, Rustam Ali Malik, will also resume the hearing of the Steel Mills corruption reference against Asif Zardari on Friday. — APP