ISLAMABAD: Asif Ali Zardari’s close aide and former provincial lawmaker Owais Muzaffar was arrested from Dubai, according to media on Tuesday.
Muzaffar, alias Tapi, has been arrested for his involvement in a case pertaining to money laundering of billions through fictitious bank accounts.
Asif Ali Zardari, Faryal Talpur, Omni Group’s Anwar Majeed and his son Abdul Ghani Majeed, former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairperson Lawai, Summit Bank Senior Vice-President Taha Raza are among those being investigated by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the anti-graft watchdog separately.
The matter is also being heard by the Supreme Court. Amid complaints from the FIA and barbs flying in the top court, former CJP Nisar had ordered the formation of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to quicken the pace of the investigation.
The case was transferred to Islamabad after a Karachi banking court accepted the anti-graft watchdog’s transfer request. The bureau filed the transfer appeal following the Supreme Court’s decision in the case wherein the joint investigation team (JIT) report and evidence collected was transmitted to the bureau for further investigations. The case is being heard by accountability court Judge Muhammad Arshad Malik.
According to the report, the JIT identified 11,500 bank accounts and 924 account holders at the start of their investigation.
Its experts generated 59 Suspected Transaction Reports (STR) and 24,500 Cash Transaction Reports. That means the transactions were flagged as suspicious.
Due to the high quantum of transactions, the JIT decided on a threshold of Rs10million “to track, follow and minutely investigate the flow of funds beyond the immediate counterparties and determine the source of funds and ultimate beneficiaries.”
