ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided to file a supplementary reference against former president Asif Ali Zardari in money laundering case.
According to sources, the statements of four approvers will be the part of supplementary reference against Zardari.
Aslam Masood, the chief financial officer of the Omni Group of Companies who was arrested in October last year in London by the Interpol and brought to Pakistan, has been one of the four approvers in the case.
Masood was allegedly a key person behind the scheme to move illicit funds through fake accounts.
Other three approvers, Kiran Aman, Naureen Sultan and Adeel Shah Rashdi are officers of a private bank, NAB sources said.
The investigation team of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has also joined the probe being conducted by the NAB, sources said.
Investigation officer Muhammad Ali Abro has been taken on deputation and added to the NAB investigation team, sources added.
Former president Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and other accused are facing an inquiry into the money laundering scam involving billions laundered through fake bank accounts.
Zardari’s close aides Hussain Lawai and Anwar Majeed are also being investigated in the scandal. They both are in custody.
A joint investigation team (JIT) formed to probe into the mega money laundering scam submitted its report in the Supreme Court. The report initially revealed that 29 fake bank accounts had been identified, which were used for money laundering.
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.