Fake account case: NAB told to decide about Malik's acquittal plea till February 12

The Accountability Court hearing multibillion rupees fake bank account case on Wednesday sought arguments of defence counsel over the acquittal application filed by accused Abdul Ghani Majeed. Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Azam Khan while hearing the case asked the defence counsel to argue before it with respect to acquittal application of Majeed.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has filed its reply before the court regarding Majeed's acquittal application. When the court asked about co-accused Zain Malik's plea bargain, the prosecutor told the court that the application of Mailk is still under process.

The court directed the NAB to decide about Malik's application till next hearing to be held on February 12. The reference pertains to a project titled 'Pink Residency' in Karachi's Gulistan-e-Jauhar area. The accused had alleged involvement in illegal regularization of two plots in Gulistan-e-Jauhar. One of the plots measured 23 acres of land while the other was of seven acres.

The anti-graft body has alleged that financial transactions related to the illegally regularized plots were conducted through fake bank accounts. The NAB estimates that the illegal land regularization and consequent sale caused a loss of Rs 4 billion to national exchequer.

The NAB Rawalpindi had nominated Chief Executive Officer of Omni Group of Companies Anwar Majeed, Zain Malik, Muhammad Younis, Abdul Jabbar, M Shabbir, Aftab Ahmad Memon, M Aslam Qureshi, M/s Bahria Town (Pvt) Ltd and M/s Pink Residency in the reference.