NAB issues arrest warrant of Faryal Talpur: sources

ISLAMABAD: The anti-corruption watchdog has issued an arrest warrant of the sibling of former president Asif Ali Zardari, Faryal Talpur, sources told ARY News on Thursday late night.

Sources said that the arrest warrant has been handed over to NAB Rawalpindi chapter after approval of chairman Justice (Retd.) Javed Iqbal.

Following the directions, NAB Rawalpindi constituted a team to arrest the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senior leader Faryal Talpur.

According to ARY News representative, some officers of district administration and local police have also reached out to Zardari House in Islamabad, whereas, the authorities were attempting to trace exact location of Talpur in order to arrest her.

A special team of NAB intelligence officers were also tasked to trace out the location of the PPP leader.

The development was made after the arrest of Zardari as Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected bail pleas of the former president and his sister Faryal Talpur in a mega money laundering case on June 10.

Read More: NAB arrests Asif Zardari in fake bank accounts case

Zardari and Talpur were not in attendance in the courtroom at the time of announcement of the verdict, however, a team of NAB reached Zardari house to only arrest the PPP co-chairman as the arrest warrant of Faryal Talpur was not issued by the bureau.

It may be noted that both the PPP leaders’ interim bail was extended five times in the reference.

The case

The Federal Investigation Agency is investigating 32 people in relation to money laundering from fictitious accounts, including Zardari and Talpur.

Zardari’s close aide Hussain Lawai was arrested in July last year in connection with the probe. While his other confidant and Omni Group chairman Anwar Majeed and his son, Abdul Ghani, were arrested by FIA in August 2018.

Over 20 ‘benami’ accounts at some private banks were opened in 2013, 2014 and 2015 from where transactions worth billions of rupees were made, according to sources.

The amount, according to FIA sources, is said to be black money gathered from various kickbacks, commissions and bribes.