–NAB teams leave for Karachi to collect data from FBR, SBP
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) took Aslam Masood, one of the accused in the fake accounts case, into custody at Islamabad airport during late Friday night.
According to reports, Masood was earlier arrested by Interpol and brought to Islamabad from Saudi Arabia. Masood, who has already been booked by the FIA’s Karachi branch in the fake accounts case, is believed to have been involved in the opening of fake accounts in various banks in the names of different persons, whose CNIC copies had been used without their consent and knowledge.
Earlier, the FIA said Masood was among those nominated in the case. Some senior bankers and employers of Masood have already been arrested but he had been absconding since leaving the country in January last year.
CONFESSION:
Speaking to a private media outlet last year, Masood said he had knowledge of a lot of dealings and transactions of the Omni Group, which was at the centre of the mega scam.
“I am ready to cooperate with the FIA. I have requested the agency to conduct my interview here in Jeddah and not take me to Pakistan,” he said.
“There is a lot that happens in the Omni Group and there are powerful people involved in the case,” he said, adding that his life was in danger.
“I am being made a scapegoat in the case. I did not have the authority to open any bank accounts nor sign any cheques.”
“My work was to approve the cheques,” Masood said.
He added that he was “one of the founding members of Omni Group”, joined them as an accountant and worked his way up to become the CFO.
“I resigned from the post in 2015, but I am still paid as a founding member,” he said.
NAB TEAM LEAVES FOR KARACHI:
The combined investigation teams of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) left for Karachi on Friday to probe into the fake bank accounts case.
The teams are being headed by Director General NAB Rawalpindi division Irfan Mangi. His subordinates supervising the teams include Mohammad Younis Khan, Mohammad Gul Afridi, Deputy Director NAB Mehboob Alam and Mohsin Ali.
According to reports, all the four teams will collect data from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) apart from gathering records from the mills of Omni Group Chairman Anwar Majeed. “Notices will be dispatched to the accused persons after relevant records are collected,” the reports quoted sources as saying.
The officials of the provincial government will also be questioned regarding the money laundering of Rs1.32 billion.
