Money laundering: Zardari, Faryal challenge transfer of case to Islamabad

KARACHI: Former President and Pakistan People Party’s co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, and his sister Faryal Talpur have challenged the banking court's order in Sindh High Court about transferring the multi-billion money laundering, fake bank accounts case to the administrative judge of the accountability courts in Islamabad.

Aggrieved by the Special Court for Banking Offence’s order that recalled their interim pre-arrest bail along with other co-accused, the PPP leaders questioned transferring the case, arising from FIR registered by the Federal Investigation Agency, to the Accountability Court Islamabad. Their counsel Farooq H Naek argued that NAB has not made out any cognizable offence case and it has no force as Supreme Court on the basis of material collected during the JIT probe transferred the investigation to NAB Islamabad.

He questioned the jurisdiction for transferring the case to the accountability court and submitted that it cannot be transferred on the application of Chairman NAB to accountability court Islamabad in view of the provisions of section 16-A of NAO Ordinance 1999. Naik pleaded that there is no specific direction of the Supreme Court in its January 7 order for transferring the case to accountability court besides the application for the interprovincial transfer of a case lies before the SC under section 16-A (b) of NAO 1999. He submitted that prosecutor general NAB has neither moved an application under section 16-A nor the SC has passed any order for transferring the case. The court was requested to set aside the impugned order of the banking court on March 15 and in meantime suspend the operation of the impugned order till disposal of the application.

The former President and PPP- co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and others had earlier obtained pre-arrest bail from the Sindh and Islamabad High Courts following the submission of interim charge sheet before the banking court by the FIA in which they were shown as beneficiaries of the illegal fake accounts and transactions. The FIA had alleged in the interim charge sheet that Omni group directors were involved in the opening of bogus accounts, placement of illegitimate funds for routing of billion of rupees funds and the amount was credited in the fake account of a private firm through cheques of the co-accused involved in the scam. Bankers of private bank Hussain Lawai, Taha Raza, Omni group head Anwar Majeed and his son Abdul Ghani Majeed were arrested by the FIA in multi-billion money laundering and fake accounts case.