Mega money-laundering case against Zardari, Talpur: Non-bailable arrest warrants for two accused issued

ISLAMABAD: The Accountability Court hearing multi-billion rupees fake bank accounts cases, on Thursday, issued non-bailable arrests warrants for two accused of mega money laundering case against former president Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, and others.

Accountability Court judge-II, Muhammad Azam Khan, while hearing the case issued non-bailable arrest warrants of the accused, Muhammad Umair and Arif Khan for not appearing before it.

At the start of hearing, the court marked attendance of all the accused but when called the name of Umair and Arif, neither they nor their counsel were present in the court.

The court took a short break and asked the counsel of the other accused to contact lawyers of Umair and Arif, and asked them to appear before the court.

The court issued non-bailable arrest warrants of the two accused, when it was informed that they were unable to be contacted.

The associates of Zardari, Talpur, and other accused filed separate applications seeking one-day exemption for their clients, which the court approved.

The court did not record statement of prosecution witness due to absence of two accused Umair and Arif, and adjourned hearing of the case till July 29. The NAB had nominated Zardari, Faryal Talpur, Hussain Lawai, Anwar Majid, Abdul Ghani Majeed, Taha Raza, Arif Khan, Muhammad Umair, Syed Hussain Faisal Shah Jamote, Azam Wazir Khan, Nimr Majid, Mustafa Z Majid, Ali Kemal Malik, M Younas Kudwavi, Zain Malik, Haji Haroon, Khawaja Muhammad Salman Younus, Pir Darvesh Khan, Imran Khan, Muhammad Aurangzeb, and Bilal Shaikh, in the supplementary reference filed in connection with the mega money laundering case.

Meanwhile, the same court completed recording statement of prosecution witness, vice president National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Nabeel Zahoor in the Park Lane case against former president Asif Ali Zardari and others.

During the hearing, the witness, Zahoor produced various documents including a copy of memorandum dated December 18, 2014 of the NBP, attested copy of management accounts of M/s Parthenon (Private) Limited, original letter of the Summit Bank regarding documents for deferment, attested copy of letter of March 26, 2014 of Summit Bank addressed to Parthenon (Private) Limited, a copy of letter dated April 11, 2014 of Parthenon (Private) Limited regarding settlement of first principle instalment and mark-up, attested copy of letter of Summit Bank, of M/s Parthenon Company regarding sale of shops, attested copy of letter of Summit Bank addressed to M/s Parthenon (Private) Limited.

The court adjourned hearing of the Park Lane case till July 28, after completion of recording of the statement of the witness.

Those who were nominated by the NAB in the supplementary reference filed in connection with the Park Lane case included, Asif Ali Zardari, Muhammad Iqbal Memon, director Park Lane Company, M/s Park Lane Estate (Private) Limited, Muhammad Iqbal Khan Noori director M/s Parthenon (Pvt) Ltd, Muhammad Hanif Accountant M/s Park Lane Estate, M/s Parthenon (Pvt) Limited, an incorporated entity bearing certificate of incorporation under the provision of the Companies Ordinance 1984, and Hussain Lawai, former president Arif Habib Bank, and the Summit Bank.

The other accused included Abdul Ghani Majid, shareholder/director Regent Service (Pvt) Ltd multiple companies known as Omni Group, Khawaja Anwar Majid shareholder director Omni Group, Taha Raza public relationship manager Arif Habib Bank now Summit Bank, Farooq Abdullah area branch manager HBL, UzairNaeem former AVP Summit Bank, M/s Tracom (Pvt) Ltd through GM south-an incorporated entity bearing certificate of incorporation under the provision of the companies office, Muhammad Saleem Faisal general manager (GM) M/s Tracom (Pvt) Limited, and Zahir Ismail.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021