PPP's Bilawal summoned on Feb 13 in JV Opal-255 case

The PPP chairman has been accused of withdrawing Rs1.22 billion from a fake account for his company.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has summoned Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to appear before its Rawalpindi investigation team on February 13 in the JV Opal-255 case.

According to details, the accountability watchdog has ordered Mr Bilawal to bring all record of the Zardari Group from 2008 till 2019, and a list of board of directors of the company.

The PPP chairman has been accused of withdrawing Rs1.22 billion from a fake account for his private company.

Mr Bilawal has claimed that he was young at that time, but contrary to his statement, the audit report contains his signature. The NAB has obtained an audit report and documents containing his signature.

For the same case, NAB Chairman retired justice Javed Iqbal had approved converting that inquiry into an investigation, and the bureau summoned Mr Bilawal for the fourth time. However, Mr Bilawal has appeared before the investigation team only once.

According to NAB, Mr Bilawal had 25 percent shares in a private firm, Opal-225, a joint venture of the Zardari Group.

PPP leaders together have been accused of transferring billions of rupees to Opal-225 via fake bank accounts. The company also took loans of billions of rupees from banks.

On Dec 9 last year, the bureau had filed eight references in an accountability court of Islamabad in money laundering through fake accounts cases, and 20 suspects were nominated in those references, including Bilal Sheikh and Tariq Ahsan.

The NAB stated in the reference that embezzlements worth billions of rupees were committed in loans of the Sindh Bank.

The suspects have been accused of granting Rs29 billion loan to the Omni Group out of which Rs25 billion was outstanding. The Omni Group was registered in the name of six persons.

It was stated in the reference that Bilal Sheikh and Tariq Ahsan remained Sindh Bank’s presidents, and both accused individuals were under judicial remand.

On May 29 last year, Mr Bilawal had appeared before a combined investigation team (CIT) of the NAB Rawalpindi for interrogation in the Park Lane Estates Company and Opal-225 cases. The NAB had served a 32-point questionnaire to the PPP chairperson at that time.

Importantly, the accountability watchdog had questioned Mr Bilawal to explain "how the JV Opal-225, without conducting any legitimate business, paid Rs1.22 billion to Zardari Group." To which the PPP chairman denied his involvement with the Opal-225 project and had replied he was not the chief executive of the Zardari Group at the moment.

The NAB had posed the question “Did the Zardari Group entered into a joint venture with the Opal-225 project?”

The CIT had further asked him whether he was the chief executive of the Zardari Group and if the group took Rs1 billion bribe from a private company before initiation of the project.

Bilawal, after being interrogated, left the bureau in a form of carcade as scores of PPP supporters were present to express their support for the party.