ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) requested the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday to constitute a high-power JIT to probe alleged money laundering of Rs35 billion through fake accounts.
During the hearing of the suo motu case, a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Umar Ata Bandial was informed by DG FIA Bashir Memon of the possibility that the amount laundered exceeded Rs35 billion as 10,000 dubious transactions were discovered during investigations.
Former president Asif Ali Zardari, sister Faryal Talpur, former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairman Hussain Lawai, Summit Bank Senior Vice-President Taha Raza are among those being investigated by a seven-member JIT led by FIA Additional Director General Najaf Mirza for allegedly facilitating 29 ‘fake’ accounts in Summit Bank, Sindh Bank and United Bank Limited.
When Justice Nisar asked for the formation of a JIT, defence counsel Aitzaz Ahsan raised objections. Responding to Ahsan’s query if the trial will be heard by the top court or a lower court, the chief justice said the trial can be conducted in SC as well. Justice Nisar added the JIT would be formed in a similar fashion to the one formed the in the Nawaz Sharif case as a “balancing act”.
The CJP also hinted at forming a special court to hear and sought result in a month.
Meanwhile, referring to earlier directives issued by the apex court instructing the FIA to halt probe against Zardari and Talpur in the case until the elections, defence counsel Farook Naik lamented that the FIA had declared the siblings as absconders despite the apex court’s orders and termed FIA’s action as “pre-poll rigging.”
“It must be seen whether the amount was laundered. The FIA has been calling my client every day, coercing for a confession,” claimed the defence counsel.
On August 4, in their reply submitted to the apex court, Zardari and Talpur expressed reservations against Mirza leading the investigation team. The PPP had called for the court to direct the FIA to conduct a fair investigation without any harassment or defamation.
The top judge urged Zardari and Talpur to appear before the FIA and prove their innocence. “If they are declared innocent, I will order an FIR against DG FIA Bashir Memon and others myself,” he said.
It is pertinent to note that in a previous hearing Memon had submitted a report stating that an inquiry had been launched in 2015 when reports first emerged about the opening of four ‘benami’ accounts. Subsequently, a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) was received from the Financial Monitoring Unit in December 2017 which detailed that suspicious transactions had been detected in 29 accounts using names of seven individuals.
During today’s hearing, Justice Nisar remarked that he had been threatened with dire consequences post-retirement. “I am not afraid,” he said. DG FIA Memon told court that the Sindh Police was harassing witnesses as the accused were seeking to dispose the case. Chiding the provincial police, the top judge directed IG Sindh Amjad Javed Saleemi to probe the matter and submit a report on August 8.
