Rs150m paid thru Zardari's steno account to buy house, court told

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday submitted a progress report to Accountability Court (AC) pertaining to investigation about a suspected transaction of money for purchase of a house in Clifton Karachi owned by former president Asif Ali Zardari and prayed the court to seize it.

The report alleged that the former president’s house had been purchased through black money in 2014. It stated that the suspected payment of Rs150 million was made through the account of Zardari's stenographer Mushtaq Ahmed who had also been part of 104 foreign visits of the former president.

The NAB investigation said Asif Ali Zardari couldn't present any proof regarding purchase of this house by himself. The current address of Zardari and Mushtaq Ahmed was Zardari House Islamabad on documents, it further said.

The NAB stated that the former president had declared the purchase of this house before Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Election Commission of Pakistan in 2014 but he had not mentioned the sources of payment against it.

It may be mentioned here that there were four graft references already under process against Asif Ali Zardari filed by NAB pertaining to mega money laundering, Park Lane Company, Harish and Company and Toshakhana corruption reference.