Omni Group withdraws millions from ‘frozen’ bank accounts

• FIA tells SC 10 out of 41 bank accounts could not be immediately frozen due to which company was able to retrieve funds

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday that the Omni Group had allegedly withdrawn funds from bank accounts that were supposed to have been frozen under court orders.

The FIA reported to the apex court that despite court orders, 10 of the 41 bank accounts were not frozen right away due to which transactions of millions of rupees was conducted from these accounts.

The SC, on the FIA’s request, had earlier ordered the freezing of 41 bank accounts operated by six companies owned by the Omni Group, whose chairman, Anwar Majeed — along with former president Asif Ali Zardari and others — is being investigated for alleged money laundering.

According to the FIA, “The said accounts are all held by the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), which had issued instructions to its staff to ‘debit block’ the accounts.” However, owing to the negligence of Assistant Vice President Afzal Sadiq, the accounts were frozen after some delay, and that allowed some transactions to take place.” Following this, Sadiq was suspended from his services.

It was reported that Pak Ethanol, Tando Allayar Sugar Mills, Omni Polymer Packages, Omni Pvt Ltd, Chambar Sugar Mills and Ansari Sugar Mills are the six companies whom the 10 bank accounts belong to.

Earlier, the SC stated that two Zardari group companies – M/s Landmarks and National Gases (Pvt) Limited – were found involved in the scandal during the inspection of a hard disk confiscated during a raid on Khoski Sugar Mills –an Omni Group-owned facility in Karachi whose head Anwar Majeed is a close Zardari confidant.

A report that was submitted by FIA to the court said that “M/s Landmark is a partnership firm owned by Asif Zardari and his sisters Faryal Talpur and Azra Fazal Pechuho, whereas M/s NGS has several members of the Majeed family holding key positions”.

The FIA further said that it is analysing NGS’s transactions and “its role in the laundering of the money”.

“In addition to conventional banking channels, funds were also laundered via Hawal/Hundi system for the purchase of movable and immovable properties overseas,” the agency officials said.

The FIA is investigating 32 people in relation to money laundering from fictitious accounts, including Zardari and Faryal. Zardari’s close aide and prominent banker Hussain Lawai was arrested by the FIA on July 6 in connection to a multi-billion money laundering scam. Moreover, Taha Raza was also arrested in connection with the same case.

It was also reported that warrants were 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.

Meanwhile, Zardari and Talpur have obtained pre-arrest bails, and according to the FIA reported submitted in the SC, have been handed questionnaires to respond to the allegations levelled against them.