Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday filed a reference against ex-president Asif Ali Zardari over Rs8.3 billion transaction through fake bank accounts.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman along with a former employee of the President House, Mushtaq Ahmed has been named accused in the reference filed before an accountability court.
According to the reference, an illegal transaction of Rs8.3 took place between Mushtaq Ahmed and a private housing society. The amount was used to purchase properties in a posh locality of Karachi, it said. Zardari owns these properties.
Ahmed remained an employee of the President House from 2009 till 2013. He was recruited as stenotypist on the request of Senator Rukhsana Bangash. Former president Zardari faces a number of graft reference stemming from the fake bank accounts scam. He is currently out on bail in all these cases.
Earlier, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said on Thursday that Swiss cases against former president Asif Ali Zardari can be reopened after the discovery of record by the Broadsheet inquiry commission.
Briefing media about the federal cabinet meeting that took place in Islamabad with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair, Fawad Chaudhry said that the legal team was working on Swiss cases record against Zardari.
“We are thankful to Broadsheet inquiry commission for finding Swiss cases record against Zardari,” said Chaudhry, adding that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) now has a record of Swiss cases and they can reopen cases against Zardari.
The Broadsheet inquiry commission report was made public today after the approval of the federal cabinet that met with PM Imran Khan in the chair. The commission has blamed the country’s bureaucracy for delaying payments to the firm hired for finding assets of political leaders abroad that led to a US$9 million fine.
The Broadsheet inquiry commission in its report recommended to de-seal Swiss cases record of the former president Asif Ali Zardari. The committee in its report has unearthed the Swiss cases recorded kept in the record room of the NAB. The inquiry commission recommended de-seal the record of the cases.
The record should be reviewed as to what has to be done with it, the Broadsheet committee recommended. The Swiss cases created a rift the judiciary and the executive as then prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani refused to write a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen the case. Former attorney general Malik Qayyum had written a letter to Swiss authorities in 2012 seeking re-opening of graft cases against PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, but the federal govt didn’t pursue the matter.
