NAB Summons PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto In JV Opal Company Case

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NAB summons PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto in JV Opal company case

The Anti-graft body says that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has been directed to appear before it on Feb 13 along with record of Zardari group from 2008 to 2019.

RAWALPINDI: (Urdu Point/ Pakistan Point News-Feb 10th, 2020) The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has summoned Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in JV Opapl 255 company case.

According to the details, the Anti-Graft body has directed PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for Feb 13—day after on tomorrow.

The NAB officials directed PPP Chairman to come up with record of Zardari group from 2008 to 2019 and also asked to present list of the board of Directors.

Bilawal has not been summoned for the first time by the NAB officials as last year on May 29 he was summoned to record his statement in the Park Lane case.

On Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that he would not appear before the National Accountability Bureau JV Opal 225 –a company which was allegedly used for fake accounts.

Last year on Dec 23, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto had submitted his written replies to the NAB officials but refused to appear before it. . Farooq H. Naek—the counsel of Bilawal Bhutto—submitted written replies on his behalf before the NAB officials in Rawalpindi.

“Bilawal would not appear before the NAB,” said Naek here on Monday. Bilawal was summoned by the anti-graft body for Tuesday , Dec 24th, 2019.

A day earlier, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that yes he would be summoned as Musharraf was not happy. He strongly criticized the PTI government for its failure to deliver to the general public since the day first it came into power.

There are total 24 accused in fake account case including former President Asif Ali Zardari and Faryal Talpur who are now on bail. According to the NAB sources, JV Opal 225—is a joint venture company between Zardari group Pvt. Ltd and Bilawal is one of its director. They said that JV Opal was established in 2011 2011 and had its office on a property in Karachi owned by the Zardari Group. From 2011 to 2013, the company did not generate any revenue, yet it purchased major assets, agriculture lands, commercial and residential properties in Islamabad and Karachi, states the JIT report.

The only amount it received, during this period, was of Rs1.2 billion from its business partner, the real-estate firm, which, according to the JIT report, was not due to the Zardari Group.

The investigators suspect that this payment was made by the real-estate company as a bribe or kickback for getting favors from the Sindh government in the form of illegal allotment of state land.

Fida Hussnain

Fida Hussnain is a lahore based journalist. He writes on politics, religion, social issues and climate change. He is also a research fellow at University of Gujrat.