AC to announce reserved verdict in Zardari’s pleas

ISLAMABAD: The accountability court will today announce a reserved verdict on the petitions seeking dismissal of three National Accountability Bureau (NAB) references filed against former president Asif Ali Zardari.

Accountability court judge Azam Khan will deliver a verdict at 3 p.m. Asif Ali Zardari filed an application for exemption from attendance today. Zardari has demanded the removal of the money laundering, Park Lane, and Thatta water supply supplementary references filed against him by the NAB.

The Park Lane reference is one of the fake accounts cases in which there were 25 shareholders including Asif Zardari. The NAB alleges that the company took two loans of Rs 1.5 billion from the National Bank in 2008 in the name of the fake front company Parthenon, which was not repaid later and caused a loss of Rs 3 billion to the national exchequer.

The NAB is of the view that Zardari, as the president, was influential in the debt forgiveness case. He got a loan from the National Bank for his fake company. Various witnesses, including former National Bank presidents, have recorded their statements in the case.

Read more: AC reserves verdict on Zardari’s plea for dismissing references

Nadeem Bhutto, in-charge of Naudero House, was arrested in Thatta Water Supply Reference. Asif Zardari was named as the accused after the interrogation of Nadeem Bhutto.

According to the reference, illegal contracts for Thatta Water Supply were awarded. As a result of the contracts, money kept coming into Nadeem Bhutto’s accounts through fake accounts and Nadeem Bhutto continued to manage Nodero House with this money.

Apart from Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur, others in the money laundering case are accused of transferring billions of rupees abroad through fake bank accounts.