NAB arrests Zardari in Park Lane Properties case

RAWALPINDI: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) today (Monday) arrested former President Asif Ali Zardari in reference to his Park Lane Properties probe, ARY News reported.

According to details, Asif Ali Zardari was allegedly running a fake front company by the name of Parathon as a share holder in Park Lane properties.

The charges entail that the former President took out a loan from the National Bank of Pakistan in the name of Parathon.

A loan worth Rs 1.5 billion was take out from the bank and transferred to the company account in a private bank.

It has also been revealed that he had forged documents to comply with the loan policy and coaxed the National Bank into loan approval.

The former premier is already arrested by the Bureau in context of an ongoing fake bank accounts case against him.

Warrants for the PPP co-chairman’s arrest were issued after bail pleas by he accused were withdrawn earlier.

Zardari is set to appear in front of the Accountability Court tomorrow with regards to the allegations on him.

According to details, the anti-graft watchdog is set to request the Accountability Court for Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman’s physical remand post-arrest.

The second physical remand for Asif Ali Zardari, if granted would begin after the remand in Fake Bank Accounts Case ends.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on April 24 apprehended an accountant of Park Lane Estate Company Private Limited in fake accounts case.

The anti-graft watchdog conducted raid at the office of Park Lane Company today, reportedly owned by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, and booked an accountant Muhammad Hanif.

NAB sources said that Muhammad Hanif handled all the financial matters of Park Lane Estate Company Private Limited and Parthenon (Pvt) Limited.

The sources said, “The suspect uses benami bank accounts for the transactions of Park Lane Estate Company and Parthenon.”

Muhammad Hanif also used fake pay orders and bank drafts for the transactions of the companies reportedly owned by Asif Ali Zardari.

Earlier, Former president Asif Ali Zardari had moved the Sindh High Court (SHC) over the Park Lane Company issue on April 16.

In a petition to the high court the Co-chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had denied his association with the Park Lane Construction Company.

In his plea, the former president had stated: “I owned just 25 percent shares of the Park Lane Company, and in 2008, had resigned from its directorship before taking oath as president of Pakistan.”

“The Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) was informed about the decision,” Zardari had said in his petition.

Read in Urdu: آصف علی زرداری پارک لین کیس میں بھی گرفتار