Zardari, Faryal appear before banking court

KARACHI: Former president Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur appeared before a banking court on Tuesday in connection with an ongoing money laundering case.

Omni Group Chairman Anwar Majeed’s three sons, Zulqurnain, Ali and Nimr, also appeared before the court in Karachi. However, the case was adjourned till November 13 as the judge hearing it is on holiday.

The banking court had ordered all those named in the case to appear before it on Tuesday. Former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairman Hussain Lawai, Anwar Majeed, Abdul Ghani Majeed and Hussain Lotha are also suspects in the case pertaining to money laundering through fake bank accounts. Zardari, Talpur and Majeed’s three sons have been granted bail in the case.

The FIA is investigating 32 people in relation to money laundering from fictitious accounts, including Zardari and Talpur. Zardari’s close aide Hussain Lawai was arrested in July in connection with the probe. The former president’s other close aide and Omni Group chairman Anwar Majeed and his son, Abdul Ghani, were arrested by the FIA in August.

Over 20 ‘benami’ accounts at some private banks were opened in 2013, 2014 and 2015 from where transactions worth billions of rupees were made, according to sources. The amount, according to FIA sources, is said to be black money gathered from various kickbacks, commissions and bribes.