Zardari’s indictment in money laundering case deferred till Sept 17

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Wednesday deferred the indictment of former president Asif Ali Zardari in the money laundering case till September 17.

The PPP co-chairman appeared before an accountability court but the indicted after his consel submitted a new petition seeking acquittal in the supplementary reference.

Zardari’s counsel Farooq H Naik filed the petition requesting the court to dismiss the money laundering reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

NAB Prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi objected to the fresh application before the indictment in the case and asked more time for preparation on their own petition.

He maintained that they have not filed any supplementary reference in the money laundering case. The case was transferred from Karachi and a reference was filed after his interrogation.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Accountability Court Judge Azam Khan adjourned the hearing till September 17.

In October 2015, the anti-corruption wing of the Federal Investigation Agency in Karachi received a tip-off of suspicious intra-bank transactions.

FIA authorities suspected that these accounts were being run by Omni Group The case dragged on until June 2018, when the Supreme Court took suo moto notice of the fake accounts,

The investigation team concluded that 32 fake bank accounts were being operated by 11 fake entities to launder money from kickbacks, land grabbing, and misappropriation of public funds.