KARACHI: A banking court on Thursday reserved its decision as it heard a plea submitted by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) joint investigation team (JIT) that had sought more time to cross-examine Omni Group Chairman Anwar Majeed.
Majeed is one of the accused in a mega money laundering scam amounting to Rs54 billion.
As the court heard the case, the JIT formed at the directives of the Supreme Court, briefed the court about progress in the case, adding that Anwar Majeed, Abdul Ghani, Hussain Lawai and Talha Raza are being questioned during their confinement in Landhi Jail.
“The investigators need four more days to complete the investigation,” FIA’s counsel pleaded with the court. However, the defence counsel opposed the request, adding that an accused cannot be questioned after jail custody.
The court reserved its judgement after hearing arguments from both sides.
The hearing was adjourned till Friday.
THE CASE:
The case was initially registered in 2015 against former Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) chairman Hussain Lawai, who is widely believed to be close to former president Zardari.
In July, Lawai was arrested in connection with the probe along with Anwar Majeed, and his son, Abdul Ghani Majeed, were also arrested by the FIA. Lawai, Majeed and his son remain under custody for interrogation.
Investigations so far have revealed that several ‘benaami’ accounts at some private banks were opened in 2013, 2014 and 2015 from where transactions worth billions of rupees were made.
The amount, according to the FIA, is said to be black money gathered from various kickbacks, commissions and bribes.