ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday extended the interim bail of three accused, including Nimr Majeed, son of Omni Group’s Head Anwar Majeed, in mega money laundering and fake accounts case.
Former Karachi Metropolitan Corporation commissioner Matanat Ali and Samiuddin Siddiqui were the other accused whose pre-arrest bail extended by another bench of the same court.
A divisional bench, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhter Kiyani, heard the bail plea of Nimr Majeed in fake accounts case.
During the course of proceeding, the bench asked whether there was a call of notice or a reference against Nimr Majeed.
The prosecutor of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) informed the bench that there was a reference against the accused person. The department would submit a written reply to the court till next date of hearing, he said. The court extended the interim bail of Nimr Majeed till May 14 and adjourned the hearing.
Meanwhile, another divisional bench of IHC headed by Justice Athar Minallah extended the interim bail of two accused Matanat Ali and Samiuddin till May 27 in fake accounts case.
FAKE ACCOUNTS CASE:
On December 24, the JIT, formed on the apex court’s orders to probe into the alleged money-laundering case, presented its 128-page final report to the court which included recommendations for filing 16 NAB references.
The report had mentioned that 29 fake accounts were identified by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) which had laundered Rs42 billion, however, the team further discovered 11,500 bank accounts of 924 account holders, 59 Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and 24,500 Cash Transactions Reports (CTRs). All of these details were scrutinised, besides the loan profile of 924 individuals.
The report further stated that the fake accounts were opened through the Omni Group, however, the accounts had been engaged with direct transactions with the Zardari Group, Bahria Town, Sindh government departments and certain contractors while the ultimate beneficiary of money laundering was Zardari’s family.
Later, the court had ordered Zardari to submit his reply by December 31, however, during the previous hearing, extended his and his sister s interim bail till January 7.
On September 6, the SC had formed a JIT to probe into alleged mega money laundering of Rs42 billion channelled through fake bank accounts in three banks.
Besides the Zardari family, several prominent individuals including former Summit Bank president Hussain Lawai and Omni Group president Anwar Majeed, have been accused in the case.
