KARACHI: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday informed a banking court that the matter pertaining to the alleged fake bank accounts and Rs4.14 billion money laundering had been sent to the competent authority for approval to take over investigation from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Former president Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, ex-chairman of the Pakistan Stock Exchange Hussain Lawai, Taha Raza and Anwar Majeed have been booked with 15 other bankers and businessmen by the FIA for their alleged involvement in opening ‘fake’ bank accounts and committing Rs4.14bn money laundering through them.

On Jan 7, the Supreme Court had referred the matter to the federal anti-graft watchdog to independently probe it and complete its investigation within two months.

On Monday, NAB prosecutor Shahbaz Sahotra filed a statement saying that in the light of the SC’s order the matter had been sent to the NAB chairman, who is the competent authority, for approval to take over the investigation of the present case from the FIA and subsequent transfer of the present proceedings before the banking court to an accountability court in Islamabad.

Asif Zardari, Faryal Talpur among the accused in the case

It further stated that a reply from the NAB chairman was awaited, adding that the same would be submitted to the court as soon as received. Therefore, it requested that NAB be allowed to join the present case and its statement be made part of the record of the case.

Allowing the request, Judge Tariq Mehmood Khosa made the statement submitted by the NAB prosecutor part of the court’s record and adjourned hearing till Feb 14.

The judge also put off, till the next date, hearing on another application moved by the NAB prosecutor seeking court’s permission to allow the FIA to formally arrest businessman Abdul Ghani Majeed in the present case. Currently, he is detained in the Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi.

On Jan 23, the banking court had further extended interim pre­arrest bail of former president Zardari, Ms Talpur and other suspects till Feb 14 on a request of the FIA prosecutors to allow them more time for submitting the final charge sheet in the case.

Initially, the FIA detained ex-PSE chief Lawai and Taha Raza in July for allegedly facilitating opening of 29 ‘fake’ bank accounts in three private banks. A case was later registered against all the suspects 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) and 109 (abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 and sections 3 and 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2019