Zardari gets bail for 15 days in money laundering case

• PPP co-chairman’s lawyer says his client ‘is ready to face trial’

KARACHI: Former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari secured interim bail from a banking court in an ongoing money laundering case involving fake bank accounts.

Zardari’s counsel Farooq Naik accompanied him to the court where he submitted bonds worth Rs2 million prior to the bail.

Naik said, “We are ready to face the trial.”

The interim bail was approved for 15 days, according to the former president’s counsel.

Responding to a question pertaining to the upcoming presidential election, the former president said, “Aitzaz Ahsan will be the next president.”

The case was adjourned until September 4.

Earlier on August 27, Zardari and Talpur had appeared before the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and recorded their statements in the Rs41.4 billion money-laundering probe.

Zardari and Talpur appeared before the agency’s joint investigation team (JIT) after being summoned by FIA for the fourth time.

Despite earlier summons, the two accused had failed to appear before the JIT.

Earlier on August 17, the court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for the former president but later on August 18, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had approved a bail petition by the PPP co-chairman seeking protective bail.

The IHC had also ordered Zardari to appear before the court on September 3.

Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur are being investigated as part of a corruption case relating to fake accounts and fictitious bank transactions worth Rs41.4 billion.

The siblings face allegations that they had illegally channelled funds through fake accounts in connivance with the CEOs of major banks.

The case had initially been registered in 2015 against former Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) chairman Hussain Lawai, who is widely believed to be close to Zardari.

Later, seven individuals, including Zardari and Talpur, were said to have been found involved in using those accounts for suspicious transactions which totalled Rs35 billion. The accounts were allegedly used to channel funds received through kickbacks.

Last month, Lawai and banker Taha Raza had been detained and booked for allegedly facilitating the opening of 29 ‘fake’ accounts through which suspicious transactions were made to different companies, including M/s Zardari Group.

Also, warrants had also been issued for suspects absconding in the case, including Namar Majeed, Aslam Masood, Arif Khan, Naseer Abdullah Hussain, Adnan Javed, Mohammad Umair, Iqbal, Azam Wazir Khan, Zain Malik, and Mustafa Zulqarnain.