Islamabad (October 22, 2018): Joint Investigation Team (JIT), formed to probe money laundering through fake accounts, has submitted its second report in Supreme Court (SC) today (Monday).
The JIT submitted its second report on the case to the apex court earlier today, in which it revealed that what started as fictitious bank accounts evolved into an extremely complicated scam of money laundering crossing Rs100 billion.
During the hearing, JIT chairman told the court that Sindh government is not cooperating with them to complete the investigation.
Meanwhile, Sindh Advocate General said that it’s difficult to provide 10-year-old data to JIT, adding that the record of the contracts is not properly compiled due to which the concerned authorities are facing problem.
The counsel representing Omni Group appeared before the Supreme Court today and told the chief justice that Anwar Majeed needed to be hospitalised as he faces cardiac problems and was fitted with a stent back in 1999.
To this, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar remarked that if Majeed faces health problems then he should be admitted to Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology and the court will ensure he receives excellent medical care.
Earlier, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had submitted a report in SC, revealing that 25 politicians own assets in Dubai. The agency had claimed that 895 Pakistanis were served notices.
FIA had also traced assets of two absconders in Dubai.
SC was also informed that Pakistani nationals own up to $150 billion worth of assets and money in bank accounts in United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Attorney General told that 11 agents, involved in illegal transfer of money, were taken into the custody during raids in parts of country.
The Federal Investigation Agency is investigating 32 people in relation to money laundering from fictitious accounts, including former president 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.
In its latest report to the Supreme Court, the JIT also revealed a lack of cooperation from the Sindh government in the probe and said millions of rupees were dumped in bank accounts of unsuspecting individuals and even those who have been dead for two years, through complex mechanisms.
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.
The Ministry of Interior earlier this month barred 95 individuals suspected to be involved in the case from leaving the country. Of these 95 individuals, 78 were placed on the Exit Control List and 17 on the FIA’s provisional national identification list (PNIL) or ‘stop list’.
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