Supreme Court to resume hearing money laundering case today

The Supreme Court will hear the long-running mega money laundering and fake bank accounts case on Monday, a week after a Joint Investigation Team held the Zardari and Omni groups responsible in its report.

A two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar has summoned replies from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, party president Asif Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and other high-profile individuals named in the JIT report.

The JIT in its report had recommended NAB cases and freezing of assets of the Zardari Group and its front companies.

The report had also suggested that all the persons involved in money laundering be placed on the Exit Control List (ECL).

In view of the JIT findings, the federal government on Friday released a list of 172 suspects whose names were placed on the no-fly list.

The list included Bilawal, Zardari, Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, presidents of a number of local banks, and other former ministers and bureaucrats.

In its interim order on December 29, the Supreme Court directed the concerned authorities to seize all records pertaining to fake bank accounts and present them before the court.

It also issued orders to freeze all fake bank accounts identified in the JIT report.

The same day, Omni Group chairman Anwar Majeed and his son, Abdul Ghani Majeed, submitted a reply in the apex court declaring themselves innocent and requested it to dismiss the JIT report.

The case

The Federal Investigation Agency 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 a close aide and Omni Group chairman and his son, Abdul Ghani, were arrested by 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.

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