The mastermind of the money-laundering and fake accounts case, Aslam Masood, was arrested by the Interpol from Jeddah, the sources within Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) informed on Tuesday.
The FIA sources said that Masood, the Chief Financial Officer of the Omni Group, was arrested by the Interpol when he arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from London.
According to the sources, Masood is considered as the 'mastermind' behind the fake bank accounts that were used to transfer over Rs100 billion out of Pakistan.
FIA termed Masood's arrest as a significant development in the case to date because he is expected to reveal important secrets in connection with the scam.
Prior to that, red warrants for Masood had been issued a few days ago. The Interpol formally informed the FIA about his arrest today, the sources further said.
FIA will constitute a special team in the coming days which will take Masood into custody and bring him back to Pakistan, the sources added.
The agency is investigating 32 people in relation to money laundering from fictitious accounts, including former president Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur. Zardari’s close aide Hussain Lawai was arrested in July in connection with the probe.
The former president's another close aide and Omni Group chairman, Anwar Majeed, and his son, Abdul Ghani Majeed, were also arrested by the FIA in August. Lawai, Majeed and his son remain under custody.
