Asif Ali Zardari’s aide Hussain Lawai remanded in FIA’s custody
On Saturday, former president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari’s close aide was remanded by a local court, till July 11. Involved in a money-laundering probe, Hussain Lawai, is in the Federal Investigation Agency’s custody since Friday.
Lawai was arrested over his alleged involvement in money laundering worth billions of rupees and the FIA is probing a huge money laundering scandal of 35 million rupees; involving a high-profile politician and a bunch of his businessman – banker friends.
Hussain Lawai was brought before the Judicial Magistrate Court alongside another suspect Taha Raza and after approved their physical remand. Alarmed to see a ‘Suspicious Transaction Report’ generated by the ‘Financial Monitoring Unit (State Bank of Pakistan) in January this year involving 10 suspicious bank accounts, the authorities were forced to launch the probe in question.
The FIA officials reported that they’re investigating Lawai and other 32 people in connection with money laundering worth of billions of rupees using 23 ‘benami’ accounts, allegedly opened in various banks between 2013 and 2015. Later, transactions made in these accounts were worth billions of rupees though but the entire amount, FIA sources believed, was black money. FIA officials said the amounts could not be gathered but from kickbacks of various kinds, commissions and bribes.
As it always happens in such cases, Hussain Lawai denied all the allegations against him, saying he had ‘no connection whatsoever’ with the money-laundering case as the authorities did not recover any money from him. Looking quite ‘surprised’ over his arrest, Lawai said he didn’t even know why he was arrested; due to his ties with former president of Pakistan or for some other reason.
