Money laundering case: Five accused of opening fake accounts flee abroad

ISLAMABAD: Five out of 23 accused in a mega money laundering case have fled the country, it emerged Monday.

The revelation was made in the report of a joint investigation team (JIT) probing the matter of laundering of several billion rupees through fictitious bank accounts in the country.

According to the report, the accused namely Nasir Abdullah Lotha, Aslam Masood, Mohammad Arif Khan, Mohammad Umair and Azam Wazir Khan have fled Pakistan.

All the five accused were said to have been playing key role in opening of fictitious bank accounts.

Sources informed Geo News that the accused fled the country soon after registration of a case against them by the Federal Investigation Agency. They said that efforts are being made for bring the accused to Pakistan.

Earlier in the day, another startling revelation was made regarding bank accounts of a dead man being operated in Karachi with transactions in billions.

Billions discovered in fake bank accounts of dead man in Karachi

The man in question, who died in 2014, had three bank accounts mysteriously opened under his name after his death

Prior to this, similar bank accounts registered in the name of an ice cream vendor and rickshaw driver have also come to light in Karachi.

Similar fake accounts were also opened in the name of some residents Hyderabad, Sialkot and some other cities in the country.

The probe

The FIA is investigating over 30 people in relation to money laundering from fictitious accounts, including Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman Asif Ali 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 another close aide and Omni Group chairman, Anwar Majeed, and his son, Abdul Ghani Majeed, were also arrested by the FIA in August. Lawai, Majeed and his son remain under custody.

Investigations so far have revealed that several ‘benami’ accounts at some private banks were opened in 2013, 2014 and 2015 from where transactions worth billions of rupees were made.

The amount, according to FIA sources, is said to be black money gathered from various kickbacks, commissions and bribes.