According to the anti-graft watchdog, Bilawal has 25 per cent shares in the private firm Opal-225, a joint venture of Zardari Group that belongs to his father Asif Ali Zardari.
PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari after being summoned three times by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) appeared before the accountability watchdog today to record his statement in the fake bank accounts and money laundering case.
Bilawal said that over a year ago, the then chief justice of Pakistan had stated that Bilawal was innocent, adding that he had presented himself before the authorities three times and had also answered the bureau’s questions.
What was Bilawal Bhutto Zardari accused of?
The latest NAB notice sent to Bilawal, sanctioned on February 7, stated: “You are hereby again called upon to appear before Combined Investigation Team-4 of NAB (Rawalpindi) along with the following record for clarifications and recording your plea on 13-2-2020 at 1100 hours without failure.
“Submit attested copies of resolutions of board of directors for the period 01-01-2008 to 01-12-2019 and any other evidence you want to produce in support of your plea. You are advised that failing to comply with this notice may entail penal consequences as provided in Section 2 of National Accountability Ordinance-1999.”
PPP leaders have been accused of transferring billions of rupees to Opal-225 via fake bank accounts. The company also took loans of billions of rupees from banks. The anti-graft watchdog, which has been investigating fake bank accounts and money laundering case against PPP leaders, filed eight references in the Accountability Court, Islamabad, on December 9, 2018.
On May 29, 2019, the bureau had served a 32-point questionnaire to the PPP chairperson during his short appearance in the bureau’s headquarters.
The investigations in the case are being faced by 172 important personalities, including Bilawal, former president Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, former chief minister Qaim Ali Shah, incumbent minister Anwar Siyal, Bahria Town owner Malik Riaz.
Their names were placed on ECL (Exit Control List) but then Bilawal’s name was soon removed as he became the Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
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