F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: The joint investigation team (JIT) probing the Rs35 billion fake accounts scam on Saturday requested the Supreme Court to freeze 37 assets belonging to the Zardari family.
JIT counsel Faisal Siddiqi submitted a list of assets owned by Pakistan Peoples Party Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Omni Groups. In the application, Siddiqi has requested the apex court to freeze assets held by the groups through various subsidiaries, front companies and assets held in the name of their directors pending the final adjudication by accountability courts.
The request has been filed to avoid the groups from shifting their money abroad. “Lest this money laundering cartel shifts their assets abroad,” the application stated.
The application further read that “prima facie evidence brought on record during the JIT investigation clearly indicates that Zardari and Omni Groups, which started with a capital of Rs600 in 1981 and Rs6,000 in 2001 respectively amassed assets illegally”.
It also specified methods of misappropriation of loans which included government funds, kickbacks and proceeds of crime. Available evidence reveals that these groups have history of laundering their illegal proceeds abroad through Hawala and Hundi.
On December 24, the top court banned the sale, purchase and transfer of properties owned by three business groups after the JIT submitted its report revealing that Rs42 billion was laundered through 29 fake bank accounts that had also been used to pay expenses of former president Asif Ali Zardari’s home.
The JIT report claimed misdeclaration of assets by Zardari in his nomination papers submitted in the 2018 general elections. Legal experts said that if JIT’s findings were proven true then Zardari may be disqualified for lifetime as a lawmaker by the SC under Article 62 (1) (f) of the Constitution.
