‘Looted’ Rs2.1bn recovered as plea-bargain of Zardari’s co-accused accepted

The National Accountability (NAB) has recovered a whopping amount of Rs 2.12 billion in the fake accounts case against Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and former president Asif Ali Zardari.

According to reports, NAB Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal has accepted the plea-bargain request of two accused — Technomen Kinetics (Pvt) Ltd directors Asif Mehmood and Arif Ali — involved in collusive bidding, exorbitant rates, corruption and corrupt practices in power generation projects of Sindh.

The final petition for plea bargain will be submitted in the accountability court, NAB has said, adding that the suspects – along with the provincial officials – were involved in corruption through fake auctions.

In the last hearing of the case in an accountability court, the physical remand of three accused, who had applied for a plea bargain, in the fake bank accounts case was extended till July 31.

During the hearing, the judge had directed NAB to wind up the case against them as soon as possible. The bureau’s investigation officer had told the court that the requests of the accused were under process with the department.

The anti-graft watchdog has already arrested 25 suspects in the fake bank accounts case that pertains to transactions of hundreds of millions of rupees to Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur’s private companies allegedly through fake bank accounts.

WATCH VIDEO: