ISLAMABAD: Former president Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday to record statements in the Park Lane Estate inquiry.
They recorded their statements separately and a questionnaire was given to Zardari by the accountability watchdog. Security personnel clashed with party workers as the PPP leaders arrived.
The roads leading up to the NAB office had been blocked, but party workers removed the blockades to reach the bureau’s headquarters.
Before arriving, Bilawal and Zardari, accompanied by other PPP leaders, consulted their legal team at Zardari House.
The accountability watchdog had initiated an inquiry against Zardari and Bilawal in connection to the allegations that Park Lane Estate Company (Pvt) Ltd — a Karachi-based real estate firm co-owned by the father-son duo — along with government officials were behind the illegal forest land transfer.
According to a NAB spokesperson, Zardari had acquired the company illegally through a front man, Iqbal Memon, in 1989. In 2009, the father-son duo became shareholders of the company. Zardari and Bilawal have been told to appear before the NAB bureau in Rawalpindi
“Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto have a stake of 25 per cent each in the company,” the NAB spokesperson said and added that the former president had the authority to use the company accounts at his discretion as the firm’s director.
The company documents dating back to 2008 show Zardari’s signatures on them as the director, according to the spokesperson. The NAB official said Faryal Talpur has not been summoned to the NAB office as yet.
