ISLAMABAD, Sept. 5 (TNS): The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday decided to constitute a joint investigation team to probe alleged money laundering of at least Rs35 billion through fake accounts.
Former president Asif Ali Zardari, sister Faryal Talpur, Omni group’s Anwar Majeed and his sons, former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairman Hussain Lawai and Summit Bank Senior Vice-President Taha Raza and others are accused in the case.
Resuming the hearing of the suo motu case, the three-member bench led by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar decided to form the JIT on a request from DG Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Bashir Memon. The new investigation team will comprise representatives from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) and country’s premier intelligence agencies; Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI).
The members will be nominated by the apex court and the team will submit a fortnightly progress report to the SC.
The accused are currently being investigated by an FIA-led seven-member JIT, led by FIA Additional Director General Najaf Mirza, for allegedly facilitating 29 ‘fake’ accounts in Summit Bank, Sindh Bank and United Bank Limited.
