NAB summons Asif Zardari's political secretary in money laundering case

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi chapter has summoned Rukhsana Bangash, the political secretary of former president Asif Ali Zardari for interrogation over money laundering charges.

Rukhsana Bangash has been asked to appear before National Accountability Bureau Rawalpindi chapter on October 19 along with a money trail and international and domestic bank accounts of her.

According to the NAB, Zardari’s political secretary had purchased $284,000 from the open market and transferred $343,000 abroad.

Earlier this week, an Islamabad accountability court had rejected the plea filed by the former president Asif Ali Zardari seeking his acquittal in the Rs8.3 billion suspicious transaction case.

The verdict on former president plea was reserved earlier in the day by the court.

The PPP co-chairman had moved the acquittal plea on the basis of the recent amendments made to the country’s accountability law.

According to the reference, PPP co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari is accused of carrying out transactions worth over Rs8 billion using fake accounts. His aide Mushtaq Ahmed deposited the amount in a fake account, which was later used to purchase pricey properties in a posh locality of Karachi.