Money laundering case: IHC grants Zardari, Talpur pre-arrest bail till April 10

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Thursday approved the interim pre-arrest bail petitions of former president Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur and granted them bail till April 10 in the mega money laundering case.

An IHC division bench heard the petitions of the former president and his sister and approved their pre-arrest bail. The bench ordered Zardari to submit bail bonds worth Rs1 million each on four of his petitions and accepted his request to submit the total of Rs4 million in the form of cash.

Meanwhile, Talpur was directed to submit bail bonds worth Rs1 million.

Zardari and Talpur had approached the IHC seeking pre-arrest bail to avoid arrest in the fake bank accounts and money laundering case case.

In the identical petitions filed through their counsels, the former president and his sister alleged that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), instead of investigating the matter itself, had stated before the Supreme Court that there was slow progress in the matter and that the probe was being obstructed.

Earlier this month, a banking court in Karachi had ordered the transfer of the fake bank accounts and mega money laundering case to Islamabad.

The case

The FIA is investigating 32 people in relation to money laundering from fictitious accounts, including Zardari and Talpur. Zardari’s close aide Hussain Lawai was arrested in July last year in connection with the probe.

The former president’s other close aide and Omni Group chairman Anwar Majeed a close aide and Omni Group chairman and his son, Abdul Ghani, were arrested by FIA in August 2018.

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.