Sindh CM appears before NAB in fake accounts case

ISLAMABAD: Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Monday appeared before the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) Rawalpindi branch in connection with the long-running fake bank accounts case.

A five-member NAB investigation team probed the chief minister for over an hour. Irfan Naeem Mangi, who is the head of the joint investigation team probing the case, also met Murad Ali Shah upon arrival at the old NAB headquarters.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders Qamar Zaman Kaira, Nayyer Hussain Bokhari and Mustafa Khokhar accompanied the chief minister to the headquarters of the accountability watchdog.

According to sources, the CIT handed over the list of 50 questions to the CM in which specific questions were asked about the sale of the Thatta Sugar Mills and Dawood Sugar Mills. Speaking to the media following his appearance, Murad Ali Shah said, "I appeared before NAB for the first time. I have nothing to hide and am fully prepared for an investigation.

"I answered all their questions and assured NAB of my full cooperation. I expressed reservations that the JIT report's conclusion was wrong and the counsel of the investigative team admitted that. The chief justice also stated that the PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is innocent," he added.

"My media trial is being conducted," the CM said. "I came here today on my personal expenses and hundreds of guards were deployed here, however, had I been asked to appear in Karachi, I would have appeared quietly. The case is being heard in Rawalpindi but all the people are in Karachi and none of our experiences in Rawalpindi have been good," he added. Earlier, ahead of his appearance before the NAB, Murad Ali Shah held a consultative meeting with party leaders at the Sindh House.

The anti-graft body, through a notification issued to Murad Ali Shah, had asked him to make an appearance at the old NAB headquarters on March 26. The chief minister, however, had requested to appear a day earlier, which was approved. Murad Ali Shah had been instructed to bring along all records pertaining to the Thatta Sugar Mills, as investigation continues into the mega money laundering and fake accounts case.

The FIA is investigating more than 30 people in relation to money laundering from fictitious accounts, including Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur. Zardari’s close aide Hussain Lawai was arrested in July 2018 in connection with the probe.

Meanwhile, former Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah filed a plea with the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking his pre-arrest interim bail, as he has received a call-up notice from the National Accountability Bureau asking him to appear before it on March 27.

Qaim has serious apprehensions about his arrest and feels he will be humiliated in case of arrest by the bureau. A division bench of Islamabad High Court, comprising Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, will hear the petition.