NAB claims major breakthrough in fake accounts case

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has claimed a major breakthrough in the fake accounts case against former president Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and others.

Sources have informed Geo News that Dubai resident and member of Summit Bank Board of Directors Nasser Abdulla Lootah has agreed to become an approver in the case. Further, after agreeing to become an approver, the arrest warrant for Nasser Abdullah Lootah has been suspended. Earlier, an accountability court in Islamabad extended the judicial remand of Asif Ali Zardari and Faryal Talpur till September 5 in the money laundering and fake bank accounts case.

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

The former president’s close aide and Omni Group chairman Anwar Majeed and his son, Abdul Ghani, were arrested by FIA in August 2018. Several ‘benami’ accounts at multiple private banks were opened in 2013, 2014 and 2015 from where transactions worth billions of rupees were made, according to sources. The amount, according to FIA sources, is said to be black money gathered from various kickbacks, commissions and bribe