The Fake accounts case is a case being heard by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) under which former

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Asif Ali Zardari, his sisters Faryal Talpur and Azra Fazal Pechuho, and son

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Bilawal Bhutto Zardari ( ur, بلاول بھٹو زرداری; born 21 September 1988) is a Pakistani politician who is serving as the 37th Minister of Foreign Affairs, in office since 27 April 2022. He became the chairman of Pakistan Peopl ...

, are accused of

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

through 29 fake accounts registered in Summit Bank,

Sindh Bank Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

, and United Bank Limited under people's names who themselves were not aware of those accounts. Others being investigated are Sara Tareen Majeed, Khawaja Kamal Majeed, Khawaja Mustafa Zulqarnain Majeed, and Saima Ali Majeed. Khawaja Anwar Majeed and Abdul Ghani Majeed are under arrest since 15 August 2018. They were arrested from inside Supreme Court of Pakistan building after they appeared to defend themselves in a "Rs35 billion fake accounts case".

Background

This case was initially opened against Hussain Lawai in 2015 who is a former chairman of

Pakistan Stock Exchange The Pakistan Stock Exchange ( ur, , abbreviated as PSX) is a stock exchange in Pakistan with trading floors in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. PSX was classified by MSCI as a frontier market on 8 September 2021. The PSX was established on 11 ...

and a close associate of Zardari.

Case facts

During court proceedings on 6 September 2018, two more companies M/s Landmarks and M/s NGS were revealed in addition to already identified companies which were used to launder billions of rupees. M/s Landmarks is owned by Zardari, Talpur, and Pechuho in a partnership.

Joint Investigation Team

The Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered creation of a joint investigation team (JIT) to investigate the charges against the accused on 6 September 2018. The JIT members are Imran Latif Minhas, Majid Hussain, Nauman Aslam, Muhammad Afzal, and Brigadier Shahid Pervaiz. The JIT is headed by Ehsan Sadiq who is an additional director general in FIA. Minhas is a commissioner at the Regional Tax Office, Islamabad, Hussain is a joint director with the State Bank of Pakistan, Aslam is a director with the National Accountability Bureau, Afzal is a director with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, and Pervaiz is associated with Inter-Services Intelligence, while contrary to the JIT for Panama Papers case, there is no representation from

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

in the JIT constituted for this case as of yet. The JIT will derive its powers from all existing laws regarding investigations and inquiries including Anti Corruption Laws, National Accountability Ordinance's Code of Criminal Procedure, and Federal Investigation Agency Act of 1974. JIT will have at their disposal all the executive agencies and authorities to assist it where needed to complete this investigation.

Pakistan Rangers The Pakistan Rangers ( ur, ) are a paramilitary federal law enforcement organization in Pakistan, operating under the authority of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan. Their primary purpose is to secure and defend sites of significance in the ...

is tasked with providing security to the JIT members and witnesses. The JIT's task is to uncover all who are involved in this matter and collect fool-proof evidence against them so they can be effectively prosecuted. To complete this task, JIT will have at their disposal to garner services of any expert. It will be mandatory for this investigative body to keep SCP apprised about their progress in the investigation on "fortnightly basis".

References

{{Asif Ali Zardari Supreme Court of Pakistan cases 2018 in politics 2018 in Pakistani politics Corruption in Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari