FIA arrests head of Omni Group Anwar Majeed

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday arrested Anwar Majeed, former president Asif Ali Zardari’s close aide and the head of Omni Group, from outside the Supreme Court.

Abdul Ghani Majeed was also arrested after the Omni Group headand his four sons appeared before the top court in connection to a case pertaining to money laundering through fake bank accounts.

During the hearing, the bench dismissed the petition of Omni Group counsel, Shahid Hamid, seeking pre-arrest bail for his clients.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar remarked, "We have ordered Majeed's arrest and directed him to appear before the FIA."

Majeed's counsel informed the court that the names of Majeed and Ghani were already on the Exit Control List (ECL).

To this, the chief justice questioned who placed their names on the ECL and DG FIA responded that court orders state that they be barred from travelling abroad.

"If the FIA wishes, the Majeed family can be taken into custody," the CJP said.

Justice Nisar then directed Majeed and his sons to appear before FIA and adjourned the hearing.

On Monday, Justice Nisar had suggested a joint investigation team like the one formed for Panama Papers should be constituted to probe the case of alleged fake bank accounts.

During Monday's hearing, the head of Omni Group failed to appear in court. The counsel for Omni Group, Shahid Hamid requested the apex court to grant three more days to respond to the orders.

However, Justice Nisar had rejected the request.

During the hearing, the DG FIA had informed the court that officials had found 15 more accounts of A-One International, from which Rs6 billion had been transacted.

He said that an account was opened in the name of a person, who worked as a graphics designer with a private TV channel, and Rs800 million were transacted from this account. Another fake account was opened in the name of a Lahore woman, from which Rs1.5 billion were remitted.

The official said that he could say that for sure that bribe money was deposited in these accounts.

Hamid had said that there was no mention of bribery or corruption in the JIT report and all finances of Omni Group were legal, which was also audited.

He regretted that false allegations are levelled without investigations, for the sake of making headlines.

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