Pakistan:Ex-president summoned in money laundering case

By Aamir Latif</p> <p>KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan's Supreme Court Monday summoned the country's former President Asif Ali Zardari for alleged involvement in a massive money laundering, according to the court records and local media.</p> <p>Headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, three-member bench also barred Zardari and others accused from trading properties in the case at the Supreme Court's Lahore branch.</p> <p>The court ordered them to submit their replies by December 31, local broadcaster Geo News reported.</p> <p>In a report submitted to the judged on Monday, a joint investigation team — set up by the Supreme Court to probe the charges — claimed that Zardari and his aides had been involved in transactions of billions of rupees (local currency) through fake accounts.</p> <p>Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), for its part, rebutted the government allegations, terming them “a cock and bull story&quot;.</p> <p>“We have heard such types of stories (investigation report) in the past as well. And they all eventually proved wrong&quot;, Qamar Zaman Kaira, a central PPP leader and a former information minister, told reporters.</p> <p>&quot;We will face all the charges in the court of law&quot;, he added.</p> <p>The government last week announced it was going to file a reference against Zardari to seek his disqualification for not disclosing his alleged assets, particularly a posh apartment in New York, before contesting the July 2018 elections.</p> <p>He was elected as a member of the lower house — the National Assembly — from his hometown Nawabshah of southern Sindh province in the last general elections.</p> <p>Zardari’s PPP, which has ruled the country four times since its inception in 1967, came third in the July elections securing 51 seats in 342-member National Assembly.</p> <p>It is currently ruling the Sindh province — its stomping ground — for the record third time in a row.