NAB files supplementary reference against Zardari in Park Lane case
A supplementary reference has been filed by NAB Rawalpindi in the Park Lane case against former president Asif Ali Zardari.
The reference has evidence of a loan being obtained using forged documents. Two private bank employees have been named in the reference.
NAB accuses the Park Lane company, which it says belongs to Zardari, of also refusing to pay back a Rs15 million loan that eventually became Rs37.7 million due to interest.
The reference has been sent to the head judge of the accountability court for scrutiny, who will decide whether to make it part of the main case or not.
An Islamabad accountability court indicted the PPP co-chairperson in the case on August 10. Judge Azam Khan read out the charges, which include misusing his power as president of Pakistan.
He was separately indicted in the Toshakhana case on Monday.
He has been accused of being a director of the Park Lane company which was a ‘front company’ used to conceal illegal acts. According to the indictment, the money from the company was deposited in his accounts via fake bank account pay orders.
NAB had said that after Zardari is indicted, the prosecution will bring forward 61 witnesses against him, including former National Bank of Pakistan presidents Syed Ali Raza and Qamar Hussain.
The bureau has accused Zardari of misusing his authority as the country’s former president and approving loans for companies allegedly owned by him. He is accused of causing a Rs4 billion loss to the national exchequer.
The Park Lane Estate company is a Karachi-based real estate firm. NAB had initiated an inquiry against Zardari and his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on charges of illegally transferring forest land to the firm in collusion with some government officials. Bilawal was given a clean chit in the case on June 12, while Zardari is currently under arrest in this case along with a money laundering case.
Other people named in the reference include Omni Group’s Anwar Majeed, his son Abdul Ghani Majeed, former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairperson Hussain Lawai, Iqbal Noori, Iqbal Memon, Younis Kudvawi, Mohammad Noori, Sher Ali Uzair Naeem and Muhammad Saleem. Three companies, Tracom, Park Lane and Parthenon, have been named too.
This is the fifth reference that NAB has filed in the fake accounts case.
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