Asif Zardari’s sister arrested by NAB in money laundering case
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s anti-graft body has arrested the sister of former president Asif Ali Zardari in connection with a multi-million-dollar money laundering case following rejection of her bail by a court.
Faryal Talpur, also a politician, was taken into custody on Friday by the National Accountability Bureau in Islamabad.
The latest development came days after a court rejected bail requests from Zardari and Talpur, drawing condemnation from the opposition, which has accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of victimising his opponents.
Talpur’s arrest comes hours after the Supreme Judicial Council began examining a government request for the removal of senior judge Qazi Faez Eisa for concealing assets abroad. That request came amid a nationwide protest by lawyers, who say Khan was victimising the judge for criticising the military in one of his recent verdicts.
Zardari and Talpur now have the option to appeal the order in the Supreme Court.
The NAB is investigating four cases where the former president and his sister are the prime accused. The cases pertain to transactions worth hundreds of millions of rupees to the two leaders’ private companies, allegedly through fake bank accounts.
NAB sources said that investigators, after their questioning of Zardari, had concluded that Talpur’s arrest was “unavoidable”.
An arrest warrant signed for Talpur by NAB chairman Javed Iqbal was handed to the NAB Rawalpindi three days ago, following which the latter constituted a team to arrest the PPP leader, Geo News reported citing sources.
The Federal Investigation Agency is investigating 32 people in relation to money laundering from fictitious accounts, including Zardari and Talpur.
According to an earlier report by a probe panel, Zardari, his sister and the former president’s accomplices laundered Rs4.3 billion (around $28 million) through 29 bank accounts bearing the names of third parties.
A five-member NAB team including female investigators visited the Zardari House in Islamabad, which was notified as a sub-jail by the NAB chairman earlier “for the purposes of detention of accused under the NAO, 1999”, according to a notification issued by the accountability watchdog.
Officials said the NAB will not shift Talpur to their offices but would keep her under custody at her Islamabad residence, which has been declared a sub-jail for this purpose.
The Bureau is expected to present Talpur in an accountability court on Saturday to seek her physical remand.