FIA recovers record from SECP office in fake accounts case

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) raided the office of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in Islamabad and retrieved the record of companies involved in the fake bank accounts case.

According to media reports, the FIA learnt through a tip-off that the record of several banks involved in the scam was being moved which prompted a team to raid the SECP office and recover it.

A senior official of the SECP confirmed the FIA team’s arrival, media reports claimed, adding that the commission’s acting chairman Tahir Mehmood is being accused of abusing his powers by ‘deliberately’ concealing the record related to Summit Bank.

Mehmood reportedly fled the country after the disclosure of JIT report on money laundering and fake accounts.

On Monday, the apex court barred the trading and transfers of the properties of the Zardari Group, Bahria Town and Omni Group after a report submitted by a JIT held them responsible in the mega money laundering and fake accounts case.

During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that household expenses of Zardari and Bilawal were paid through these companies. “Zardari and Bilawal’s heater bills and even the money spent on their dogs was paid by someone else,” he added.

The JIT report further said, “These companies paid for Zardari family’s monthly expenditure of over Rs10.2 million. Even money for the construction of Bilawal houses in Lahore and Karachi were paid through fake bank accounts.”

“Omni Group also kept making payments for dry cleaning of Zardari’s clothes,” the report stated.

“Rs1.2 billion were transferred to the account of Zardari’s sister Faryal Talpur which was used to purchase land for Bilawal House, Lahore and land in Tando Allahyar,” it added.