Court grants NAB 13-day physical remand of Aftab Memon

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – The accountability court the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday granted 13-day physical remand of Aftab Memon – close aide of former president Asif Ali Zardari. The accountability court judge, Muhammad Bashir, also ordered medical check-up of Memon and sought its report in the next hearing. Earlier, the NAB has arrested Karachi Development Authority former secretary Aftab Memon, a close aide of PPP chairman Asif Zardari, in the fake accounts case on Friday. He will be produced in an accountability court in Rawalpindi today. Aftab Memon faces the charge of transferring seven acres of land in violation of the law and causing a loss of Rs 800 million to the national exchequer. In an interview with BBC Urdu on Thursday, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari criticised NAB and said it "was only created to pressurize political parties. If the rule of law was established, there would be no problem today.” The NAB has initiated probes against PPP leaders and even arrested some in corruption cases. Last month, Sindh Assembly Speaker and PPP leader Agha Siraj Durrani was arrested for accumulating assets beyond means.

SC rejects review petitions of Asif Zardari, Faryal Talpur

Earlier on February 19, the Supreme Court of Pakistan rejected the review petitions of former president Asif Zardari and Faryal Talpur. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa and comprising Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard the case. The court announced the brief verdict after a four-hour hearing and rejected the applications of Omni Group, Abdul Ghani Majeed and Anwar Majeed. Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa remarked that 99.9 percent arguments are based on fears. However, the court allowed PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto to file a review petition. In the petition, apart from seeking a halt to the investigation, the court was requested to transfer the case to Sindh. Meanwhile, Zardari, who is in Islamabad in connection with the fake accounts case, on Monday held a consultation meeting with his legal team comprising Farooq H Naik and Nayyar Bukhari at the Zardari House. On the other hand, the apex court also has to hear many important cases including the case pertaining to excessive payments made to independent power producers (IPP) by the government.

NAB chairman approves transfer of money laundering case to Islamabad

On Monday, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal has approved transfer of the money laundering case to Islamabad. The money laundering case against former president Asif Ali Zardari and others transferred to Islamabad; however, in this regard the NAB officials have submitted a letter signed by the chairman of the accountability bureau at the banking court Karachi on Monday. The NAB officials told the banking court that the Supreme Court has ordered the bureau for investigation of the money laundering case. Chairman NAB Javed Iqbal, on the apex court’s order, has issued directives under clause 16-A of the NAB ordinance, the officials said.