Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Monday reported a money laundering case worth Rs. 35 billion to the Supreme Court.
FIA Director General told the apex court that more than 10 prominent political personalities are allegedly involved in these transactions through fake accounts.
Prime Suspects
The FIA stated that two of the primary suspects who are involved in this money laundering case include former President Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur.
On August 1, the FIA had issued notices to Zardari and Talpur to appear before a joint investigation team (JIT) in Islamabad on Saturday. However, they did not turn up. Following their absence, they were then summoned to the court on Monday. Till the filing of this report, both Asif Zardari and Faryal Talpur have failed to appear before the FIA team today.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar instructed FIA to provide complete information about the bank accounts of the owners.
Previous Developments
On July 30, Talpur challenged FIA’s interim challan and submitted Rs. 2 million in bail at the court. Talpur also demanded the removal of the head of a joint investigation team formed on the FIA’s directives to probe money-laundering allegations against them.
She argued that money laundering charge was not mentioned in the FIR while her role was also not clearly stated in the challan. She denied all allegations against her.
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Zardari and Talpur also had reservations against the JIT head Najaf Mirza, where the former had registered an FIR against the current JIT head in 2005. Talpur’s counsel Farooq H. Naik expressed his reservations against the JIT head, stating that a transparent investigation into the matter was not possible unless Mirza was replaced.
Asif Ali Zardari, Faryal Talpur, and their associates are accused of sending Rs. 35 billion abroad through fake accounts, after which their names were placed on the Exit Control List (ECL).
The police investigation report stated that the Zardari group (Asif Ali Zardari and Faryal Talpur) received Rs. 15,000,000 and were among the beneficiaries of the transaction trail of fake bank accounts maintained by the Omni Group, owned by Anwar Majeed, another close aide of the former president.
Despite these huge transactions, the bank never reported them to the authorities concerned including the FIA.
Via GeoNews
