Vehicles acquired from Tosha Khana: Zardari accused of making payments from fake bank accounts

Asif Ali Zardari, during his tenure as President of Pakistan, allegedly made payments of duty and taxes from fake bank accounts to acquire vehicles from Tosha Khana, a place where state gifts and emblems are stored. This was claimed in a letter written by National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Rawalpindi to the chairman FBR for provision of information under section 19 of National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999 in an inquiry against persons involved in fake bank account scam.
Sources said that earlier NAB, Rawalpindi, during an inquiry into the fake bank accounts scam came to know about the transactions of Rs. 1.22 billion in M/s Opal 25 between M/s Bahria Town, M/s Zardari group and others and has asked the FBR to provide financial details including complete income tax returns along with audit reports and financial statements from inception of these companies till date.
Furthermore, sources said that the said financial details were submitted to the NAB, Rawalpindi, and now they were asking more information pertaining to the payments of duty and taxes against the vehicles acquired by the then President from Tosha Khana.
According to the letter, NAB, Rawalpindi, in pursuance of the orders of Supreme Court dated January 7, 2019 in HRC 39216-G of 2016 relating to fake bank accounts, etc, has taken the cognizance of an offence regarding taking vehicles from Tosha Khana by former president Asif Ali Zardari and made payments of duty and taxes through fake bank accounts and allegedly committed offence under section 9(a) of NAO, 1999 and section 3 of Anti Money Laundering Act, 2010.
Therefore, NAB Rawalpindi, has requested the board to nominate its well-informed officer with the facts to appear before a NAB inquiry officer and record his statement and produce the complete original records along with a set of certified copies including wealth statements and income tax returns from tax year 2007 till to date of former President Asif Ali Zardari.
According to sources, FBR has gathered all financial details of these companies from its different tax offices and would submit the same to the NAB, Rawalpindi, shortly.