Court postpones indictment of Zardari, Faryal

Karachi: Accountability court on Wednesday has postponed indictment of former president and co-chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur in mega money laundering case till August 7.

Exemption pleas of both the accused were submitted in the court. On the other hand, during the hearing on a plea seeking dismissal of Park Lane reference against PPP leader, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has submitted a pay order of transferring money into bank accounts of rickshaw owner and faloda seller.

The anti-graft watchdog said that Rs20 crore was transferred to rickshaw owner account with name of Dream Trading while another Rs20 crore was sent into the account of faloda seller with the name of Ocean Enterprises.

Both rickshaw owner and faloda seller have already appeared before the court for testimonies. White collar crimes are being carried out in such a way to avoid suspicion, NAB stated.

It is to be mentioned here that the accountability court will also indict Asif Ali Zardari in Thatta water supply reference on August 4. All the accused have also been on the same day for further proceedings.

In December 2019, former president Asif Ali Zardari was released on medical grounds after an accountability court in Islamabad issued separate robkars [mandamuses] in the Park Lane Estate Company and the money laundering through fake bank accounts cases against him.

The charges in the latest case centre around allegations Zardari laundered vast sums of money through suspect bank accounts and companies.

NAB is conducting investigations in pursuance of the Supreme Court’s verdict in the money laundering of billions through fake accounts case wherein it forwarded the joint investigation team (JIT) report with directions to investigate and file references.

Zardari has repeatedly dismissed allegations he had a hand in the scheme. Never popular and always shrouded in controversy, Zardari — who was once jailed for 11 years for corruption — stepped down from the president s office in 2013. But he has continued to serve as co-chairman of the opposition PPP.