ISLAMABAD: Former president Asif Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur arrived at the FIA’s zonal office in Islamabad on Monday morning to be interrogated in a money laundering case.
They have been summoned three times before but failed to appear. They were accompanied by senior PPP leaders such as Khursheed Shah, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Sherry Rehman, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Aitizaz Ahsan and Yousuf Raza Gillani.
They will record their statements before a six-member JIT and also be interrogated. Zardari was questioned by the team for around 40 minutes and was asked about the fake accounts.
Zardari has come to the FIA office before but was not presented before the committee. They are being interrogated in a money laundering case involving Rs35 billion funnelled through fake bank accounts at three local banks.
Speaking to the media, Zardari said that unfortunately the cases against him were started during former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s tenure.
He was reportedly asked by the FIA whether he was still the chairperson of the Zardari Group, to which he replied that he had not been the head of the group for 10 years, ever since he became president.
The former president was also asked what his connection was to the Omni Group and whether Anwar Majeed worked for him. Zardari replied that he had to connection to the Omni Group and that Majeed is a friend. I don’t know anything about his business concerns, he said.
When asked where the money in his accounts came from and whether former Summit Bank head Hussain Lawai opened fake accounts for him, Zardari said he did not have any fake accounts nor did he need them. These accounts were used for money laundering, the FIA officials said.
Zardari and Talpur were not given questionnaires before leaving the FIA office.
