Park Lane reference: Dunya News obtains list of 16 accused persons among Zardari
According to details, Zardari's close aide Iqbal Memon and Yousaf Qudwai have been absconding.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Dunya News has obtained a list of 16 suspects who are being interrogated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi in the Park Lane Estate Company reference.
Along with former president Asif Ali Zardari, 13 suspects have been arrested by the accountability watchdog.
According to details, Zardari’s close aide Iqbal Memon and Yousaf Qudwai have been absconding.
Moreover, Omni Group’s CFO Aslam Masood, who had offered turning approver in the case, has also been nominated in the case.
Furthermore, four directors of the Park Lane Estate Company, three directors of the Parthenon (Pvt) Limited, bank officers and senior workers of the Omni Group have also been named accused in the same case.
According to the reference, the suspects had taken a loan of Rs1.5 billion from the National Bank of Pakistan, and the bureau has accused Zardari of causing a loss of Rs3.77 billion to the national exchequer.
Earlier on Wednesday, the NAB formally nominated Zardari as an accused person in the Park Lane Estate Company case.
Reportedly, NAB chairman Justice (rtd) Javed Iqbal had presided over a meeting of the executive board of the bureau. The chairman had approved filing a reference against Zardari as the director of the Park Lane Estate Company.
On the occasion, the chairman had 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.
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 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 had 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.
