The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday summoned Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur in money laundering probe on August 4. The agency issued notices to the former president and his sister to appear before a joint investigation team, which is probing the matter. The FIA is interrogation 32 people in relation to money laundering from fictitious accounts, under which Zardari’s close aide and Pakistan Stock Exchange chairman Hussain Lawai was also arrested earlier this month. FIA had earlier summoned Talpur and Zardari on July 11, however, the siblings had failed to appear before the agency. Talpur later asked FIA to provide more time to the two for submitting a response. The FIA launched the probe when the financial monitoring unit of the State Bank of Pakistan generated a ‘suspicious transaction report’ in January this year regarding ten bank accounts. According to sources, more than 20 ‘benami’ accounts at a private bank were opened in 2013, 2014 and 2015 from where transactions worth billions of rupees were made. The amount according to FIA sources was said to be black money gathered from various kickbacks, commissions and bribes. But despite these huge transactions, the bank authorities never reported them to the authorities concerned, including the FIA. Published in Daily Times, August 2nd 2018.