ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Friday adjourned hearing the fake accounts case without making any substantial progress after it was informed that copies of the reference had not yet been provided to all 30 of the suspects nominated.
Accountability judge Mohammad Bashir, who was hearing the case, said the court will start the indictment process once all the accused had a copy of the reference filed against them by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The judge meanwhile extended until October 22 the judicial remand of former president Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur, chief suspects in the case, who had been produced before the court today.
The investigation officer of the case told judge Bashir that the anti-corruption watchdog had asked the interior ministry to issue red warrants for Younis Qadwai and Azam Wazir, both of whom are nominated in the case and are currently abroad.
He said a supplementary reference will be filed by the next hearing. He further said that the supplementary reference has yet to be approved by the NAB chief.
The hearing was subsequently adjourned till October 22.
The case pertains to a massive money laundering scam that was being probed by the Federal Investigation Agency. The suspects include Zardari, Talpur, former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairman Hussain Lawai, Omni Group CEO Anwar Majeed and his sons and several other high profile persons. The case was later taken over by NAB on the Supreme Court’s orders.
