Daily Times

Sindh Rangers and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), on Sunday, raided a sugar mill owned by Anwar Majeed, the owner of Omni Group.

The raid was conducted on the basis of information obtained from Anwar Majeed during his interrogation by the FIA. Anwar Majeed, a close aide of former president Asif Ali Zardari, and his son Abdul Ghani Majeed were arrested on August 15 by the FIA in a case pertaining to money laundering through fraudulent bank accounts.

Anwar Majeed and his son’s arrest was preceded by a hearing at the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) regarding the money laundering case. During the hearing, the court rejected Anwar Majeed’s petition for a pre-arrest bail. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had said, “”If the FIA wishes, the Majeed family can be taken into custody.”

The FIA is investigating 32 people in relation to money laundering from fictitious accounts, including Asif Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur. Zardari’s close aide Hussain Lawai was arrested last month in connection with the probe.

Sources revealed that over 20 ‘benami’ accounts at some private banks were opened in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and transactions worth billions of rupees were made through these fraudulent accounts. The amount transferred is said to be black money gathered from various kickbacks, commissions and bribes.

In July, the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) had taken up a suo motu case pertaining to ‘fake accounts’ and money laundering. The case was based on a 2015 inquiry regarding suspicious transactions. As a result of the inquiry, seven people were found involved in transacting Rs 35 billion (bn) suspiciously.

The FIA summoned former president Asif Ali Zardari and PPP leader Faryal Talpur for the fourth time on Monday. The siblings were asked to appear before the agency for questioning in the money laundering case.

On Saturday, a local court in Karachi extended the physical remand of Anwar Majeed and Abdul Ghani Majeed. FIA presented Abdul Ghani Majeed before South additional district and session judge.

During the hearing, Majeed’s council said that Majeed was being investigated all night and not allowed to sleep. “A medical examination should be conducted of my client as he faces the risk of brain hemorrhage,” said Omni Group owner’s council. He further requested the court to send Anwar on a judicial remand instead of a physical one.

However, the FIA prosecutor had argued that further questioning was required and the physical remands should be extended.

The court accepted the FIA’s request and extended Anwar and Abdul Ghani’s physical remand till August 27.

A banking court had granted seven days’ custody of Omni Group chairman Anwar Majeed and his son Abdul Ghani Majeed to the FIA on August 17. The court had also granted the physical remand of the father and son to the FIA for further investigation into the money laundering case.

Published in Daily Times, August 27^th 2018.