Warrants out for Zardari in fake accounts case

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) informed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that arrest warrants for former president Asif Ali Zardari had been issued in connection with the suspicious transaction of Rs8.3 billion in the fake bank accounts case. The IHC, however, exempted Mr Zardari from personal appearance in the case for medical reasons.

Reacting sharply to the issuance of arrest warrants a day before the first power show of the opposition parties, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari tweeted: "On my way to Pakistan Democratic Movements first Jalsa in Punjab, I have received the news that NAB has issued arrest warrants for my father who has been admitted to hospital for the last few days. These tactics are not new for PPP & nothing will deter us now. Go selected."

Mr Zardari is seeking a pre-arrest bail in the case related to suspicious transaction of Rs8.3bn from Bahria Town to fake accounts through a joint account of his assistant private secretary Mushtaq and Zain Malik, the son-in-law of property tycoon Malik Riaz.

The high court had on June 18, 2019 granted prearrest interim bail to Mr Zardari in the case. The bail has yet to be confirmed.

Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi, NAB deputy prosecutor general, informed the court that the inquiry into the suspicious transaction case had been upgraded to investigation and the bureau chairman had signed the arrest warrants for Mr Zardari.

A two-judge IHC bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had taken up the pre-arrest bail petition filed by Mr Zardari. When the court asked for the copy of arrest warrants for Mr Zardari, the prosecution could not present it.

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