Daily Times

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday filed a supplementary reference in the fake accounts case against former president Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur.

In its reference, the anti-corruption watchdog alleged that the funds of a private bank were wrongly used and land was purchased under the name of a benamidar. The bureau said the accused named Mushtaq has a joint account with the former president, adding that according to the bank record, the account was used for the PPP co-chairperson. Funds were also transferred abroad through the same account, the reference alleged.

According to the reference, a huge amount of Rs 8.3 billion was withdrawn from the fake accounts and Rs 1.2 billion were taken out illegally from a private bank’s account. It also says that Rs 950 million were then transferred back to Zardari’s account for his use.

The reference also alleged that Anwar Majeed, Abdul Ghani and Mustafa Zulqarnain played a crucial role in the case.

Meanwhile, NAB has summoned Sindh former chief minister Qaim Ali Shah for interrogation in the fake bank accounts case. Reports said the anti-graft watchdog has asked the senior politician to appear on December 4 at the Rawalpindi headquarters of the bureau.

Meanwhile, an accountability court on Monday approved 10-day physical remand of Ijaz Haroon, former managing director of Pakistan International Airlines, in a case related to fake bank accounts.

Ijaz Haroon was produced before the court of Judge Muhammad Bashir under strict security measures. According to NAB, the former PIA MD is accused of fraud charges, fake accounts and corruption. Ijaz Haroon was arrested for his alleged role in corruption with the Omni group, the NAB said.

The NAB prosecutor apprised the court that Ijaz Haroon had sold 12 plots to fake allottees as secretary of the Kidney Hill Housing Scheme and laundered Rs 144 million via two fake bank accounts.

The defence counsel, rejecting the allegations levelled against his client, said Haroon has been appearing before the NAB for an inquiry. He said the plots were owned by Haroon’s father which were later sold to the Omni group.

Meanwhile, the Sindh High Court on Monday reserved verdict in a case pertaining to bail plea of Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani in assets beyond means case.

During the court proceedings, the court asked as to why the daughters of the speaker were named in the illegal assets case. The NAB prosecutor responded that the daughters were included in the reference for having benami properties in their names. “Similar happened in the case of Nawaz Sharif where his daughter and sons were included in the case for having such properties,” the persecutor argued, while giving an example but was unable to give a proper reference when the judge asked him. “You cannot move ahead while not mentioning a proper reference of the case,” the judge said. The prosecutor, however, demanded the judge to reject the bail plea as the accused was influential and could exercise his powers to damage the case if allowed to roam free on bail.

The court, however, ordered to separate Durrani’s wife, his son and daughters from the reference, and directed authorities concerned to initiate proceedings of the declaring the accused fugitive.