Park Lane case: NAB approves filing another reference against Zardari
The chairman approved filing a reference against Zardari in the Park Lane case.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi on Wednesday formally nominated former president Asif Ali Zardari as an accused person in the Park Lane Estate Company case.
Reportedly, NAB chairman Justice (rtd) Javed Iqbal presided over a meeting of the executive board of the bureau. The chairman approved filing a reference against Zardari as the director of the Park Lane Estate Company.
On the occasion, the chairman termed corruption as “the biggest hurdles towards state’s development and prosperity.
According to details, the Park Lane case is being investigated under different sections of the National Accountability Ordinance, NAO 1999, and the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010, for Zardari’s alleged involvement in extending loan and its misappropriation by M/s Parthenon Private Limited.
Allegedly, the Park Lane company was falsely presented as Parthenon (Pvt) Limited for taking a staggering loan of Rs1.5 billion from the National Bank of Pakistan. Afterwards, when the amount was withdrawn in cash, no whereabouts of the company were found.
On March 20, the NAB Rawalpindi had handed over questionnaires comprising 54 questions each to Zardari and his son Bilawal in three cases including Park Lane Estate reference, and subsequently directed them to submit their response within 10 days.
The members of a joint investigation team (JIT) of the anti-graft watchdog had recorded their statements after 2 hours of interrogation at the bureau’s office in Rawalpindi concerning accusations over Park Lane Estate Company (Pvt) Ltd - a Karachi-based real estate firm co-owned by Zardari and Bilawal.
On April 13, Zardari had submitted his written response to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi on 54 questions in connection with three cases against him, including Park Lane Estate, Pink Residency, and fake accounts and money laundering.
According to sources, Zardari had acquired the company illegally through a front man, Iqbal Memon, in 1989. In 2009, Zardari and Bilawal became shareholders of the company.
Moreover, both of them have a stake of 25 percent each in the company and Zardari had the authority to use the company accounts at his discretion as the director of the firm.
Allegedly, billions of rupees were transferred to the company’s accounts via fake bank accounts while the company documents dating back to the year 2008 show Zardari’s signatures as the director. The company took out loans of billions of rupees from the banks.
