Park Lane reference case: Ex-NBP presidents turn approvers against Zardari

KARACHI: Two former presidents of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) have turned approvers against former president Asif Ali Zardari in the Park Lane reference, NAB told an accountability court on Wednesday.

The Bureau has accused Zardari of misusing his authority as the country’s former president and approving loans for companies allegedly owned by him. He is accused of causing Rs4 billion loss to the national exchequer.

Zardari, however, has challenged NAB’s jurisdiction in the case. He said that the case falls within the ambit of the banking ordinance and must be heard by banking courts.

Syed Ali Raza and Syed Qamar Hussain have claimed that Zardari did indeed misuse his authority in the case. Raza said that Zardari used to ask him to issue funds to companies of his own choice. He claimed that the former president met him and told him to take good care of Anwar Majeed.

He said that Abdul Ghani Majeed used to deliver messages to them on Zardari’s instructions. Hussain was the head of the credit committee when the loans were approved while Raza was the president of the bank. Later Hussain took over as president after Raza’s retirement. The two witnesses will now have to repeat their statements in court after Zardari is indicted in the case.

PPP leader Latif Khosa told reporters that people turning approvers against politicians is not new phenomenon. It happens every time as there is no solid evidence against the accused person. It happened with Zulfikar Bhutto too, he said. NAB has no jurisdiction in the Park Lane case and Zardari is not involved in it, he added.