NAB gets 11-day physical remand of former Pak President Zardari in money laundering case

An accountability court on Tuesday granted National Accountability Bureau (NAB) 11-day physical remand of former President Asif Ali Zardari, a day after he was arrested in connection with a money laundering case.

Zardari was presented before accountability court Judge Mohammad Arshad Malik earlier today, which ordered that the PPP co-chairman be presented before him again on June 21, reports Dawn.

The NAB had sought 14-day physical remand of Zardari, which was opposed by his counsel Farooq H Naek.

The former President was arrested on Monday, hours after the Islamabad High Court rejected his application seeking an extension of the pre-arrest bail.

A 15-member team of the country's top anti-corruption body, accompanied by police personnel, arrested the PPP co-chairman from his residence here.

During Tuesday's court proceedings, the accountability bureau said that there were eight solid grounds for Zardari's arrest.

NAB prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi informed the court that Zardari was involved in mega money laundering through fake accounts and a beneficiary of these fake accounts.

During the proceedings, Zardari submitted a request for additional facilities in the NAB lock-up, which included the permission to keep one personal caretaker with him and all medical facilities to be provided to him.

"I am a sugar patient and at night my sugar gets low," Zardari told the court. "The attendant will not sit with me for 24-hour when they are required they will be called."

Zardari, president of Pakistan from 2008 until 2013, and his sister Faryal Talpur have been found guilty of money laundering through fictitious accounts. The two now have the option of appealing the order in the Supreme Court.

The case pertains to suspicious transactions worth Rs 4.4 billion allegedly carried out through a fictitious bank account.

In January last year, the Federation Investigation Agency (FIA) began an inquiry when the State Bank of Pakistan's financial monitoring unit issued a "suspicious transaction report" on 10 bank accounts.

Transactions worth billions were made over the years when over 20 bogus accounts were opened with a private bank.

At least 32 people are under the FIA scanner for laundering money from fictitious accounts. Zardari, however, has denied all these allegations.

Zardari spent time in jail in the 1990s and 2000s and was even nicknamed "Mr 10 per cent" for the commissions he allegedly received on the government contracts.