Money laundering case: JIT summons details of Sindh govt's bank accounts

KARACHI: A joint investigation team (JIT) formed by the Supreme Court to probe into an ongoing Rs35 billion money laundering case on Friday increased the scope of its investigation to include the Sindh government.

The JIT has written a letter to the Sindh government and sought records for the past 10 years of bank accounts owned by the provincial government.

Further, money given to sick industry units and government contracts awarded have also been made part of the investigation.

According to the letter, the JIT has sought records for the past 10 years of the transactions made by the provincial government. “The Sindh government should share the records of all accounts in all banks,” the letter read.

The JIT has specified that the provincial government’s bank statements for the past 10 years should be provided with signatures from concerned officers.

“The money lent to sick industry units over the past 10 years and details of their directors should also be provided,” the letter added.

Further, details have also been sought of the contracts awarded in the water and communication and works departments in the last 10 years. “Details should be shared regarding how much money was invested in and how many contracts were awarded pertaining to these two departments in the last 10 years,” the letter stated.

Details of contractors, including their names, addresses and NIC numbers, have also been sought. The letter also mentions the suo motu notice taken by the Supreme Court regarding the case.

The case

The FIA is investigating 32 people in relation to money laundering from fictitious accounts, including Zardari and his sister Faryal 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 and his son, Abdul Ghani, were also arrested by the 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.