NAB summons Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in JV Opal case on Feb 13

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi on Monday summoned Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on February 13 in a Joint Venture (JV) Opal 255 corruption case, ARY NEWS reported.

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The summon for Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to appear before NAB Rawalpindi was issued on Monday and he was directed to bring records of Zardari Group of Companies from 2008 to 2019.

The PPP chairman was also asked to bring the record of the board of directors of the company. Bilawal Bhutto is accused of taking out an amount of Rs1.22 billion from a fake bank account to utilize it for his personal company.

Bilawal Bhutto argued during the NAB probe that he was a child when the transaction was made, however, the documents bear his signatures.

The NAB authorities have already acquired the audit report and document bearing the signature of the party chairman.

Chairman NAB Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal has already given nod to turn the inquiry against the top PPP leader into an investigation. Bilawal is summoned by the accountability watchdog four times but he appeared only once before them.

The Opal-225 (referred in tax record is a joint investment of Zardari Group Ltd) was initiated on October 15, 2011. In 2009, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his father became shareholders of the company.

Both of them have a stake of 25 percent each in the company.

Allegedly, billions of rupees were transferred to the company’s accounts via fake bank accounts. The company took out loans of billions of rupees from the banks.

Fake Bank Accounts Case

The anti-graft watchdog is conducting investigations in pursuance of the Supreme Court’s verdict in the fake accounts case wherein it forwarded the joint investigation team (JIT) report with directions to investigate and file references.

Former president Asif Ali Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, his aunt Faryal Talpur, former chief minister Qaim Ali Shah, provincial minister Anwar Siyal, others are among as many as 172 accused in the fake accounts case.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had granted bail to the former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on medical grounds.