ISLAMABAD   -   A day after the cabinet decided to place 172 accused that have been named by the Joint Investigation Team in the fake accounts case on the Exit Control List, the federal government has placed the names of almost entire top leadership of Pakistan People’s Party on no-fly list besides other prominent people.

The list unofficially released by the government includes PPP leadership, provincial ministers, lawmakers, bankers, businessmen, bureaucrats and a number of officials and the chief executive officers of the private companies.

To the surprise of many, the name of PPP leader and Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah has also been placed on ECL.

Among the PPP leaders placed on ECL are PPP Chairman and member of National Assembly (MNA) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PPP co-chairman, former president and MNA Asif Ali Zardari, Zardari’s sister and member of provincial assembly (MPA) from Sindh Faryal Talpur, and former Sindh chief minister  as well as Sindh Assembly member Syed Qaim Ali Shah.

Riaz Laljee, a prominent businessman and a close friend of Asif Ali Zardari has also been included in the list.

Private Companies:

The officials, owners and chief executive officers (CEOs) of many private business firms including those dealing with the business of construction and money exchange have been placed on the no fly list. These companies include M/s Pink Residency, M/s A H Chachar & Sons, M/s Thadani Enterprises, Ashraf D Baloch Construction Co., M/s Hafiz Rab Nawaz & Company, M/s Harish & Co., M/s Madni Engineering, M/s Niaz Muhammad Khan & Brothers, ME Consultant, M/s Galaxy Construction, MAC Engineering, Wadood Engineering, M/s Oasis Drilling Corporation, M/s Park Lane Pvt. Ltd, Paramount Builders, M/s Technoman Kinetics Pvt. Ltd, Pak Ethanol (Pvt) Ltd, M/s MBC & Sons, and A-One International.

Sindh Assembly: 

From the members of Sindh Assembly, PPP’s Ali Nawaz Mehar and Sohail Anwar Sial  have been placed on ECL.

Sindh Cabinet:

Among the Sindh cabinet members, PPP’s Minister for Excise, Taxation & Narcotics Department Mukesh Kumar Chawla and its Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh Minister are in the list.

Bankers:

The bankers in the list are Ahsan Raza Durrani president Summit Bank, Hussain Lawai former president Summit Bank,Tariq Ahsan president Sindh Bank, Bilal Shaikh former president Sindh Bank, and Nadeem Altaf (Group Head Credit) Sindh Bank,

Syed Ali Raza, former president National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Masood Karim Shaikh Head Corporate NBP and Nadeem Anwar Ilyas, Head Corporate of the same bank are also in the list.

SECP:

The names of acting chairman Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Tahir Mahmood, former executive director SECP Ali Azeem Ikram and another officer of the commission Abid Hussain are also in the list.

Omni Group:

From the Omni Group, those have been placed on ECL are Abdul Ghani Majeed, Anwar Majeed Khawaja, Muhammad Arif Khan, Ali Kamal Majeed, Khawaja M. Salman Younis Chief Officer Omni Group, Mustafa Zulquernain Majeed,  Nimr Majid Khawaja and Nazli Majeed.

Bureaucrats:

The bureaucrats from the federal and Sindh government placed on ECL are Agha Wasif Secretary Energy, Sohail Rajput Secretary Finance, Syed Zameer Haider Secretary Industries, Ghulam Muhammad Phul Secretary Land Utilization; Kazijaan Mohammad Deputy Commissioner Malir, Nisar Ahmed Shaikh Additional Secretary Finance, Saqib Somroo Secretary Land Utilization, Ali Akbar Abro XEN Sindh Coal Authority,  Hasan Raza Abbasi CEO STDC (Sind Transmission & Dispatch Company), Hassan Ally Memon Chairman/ PD SID),, Manzoor Qadir Kaka DG SBCA, Syed Shah Nawaz NadirDirector STDC), and  Zulfiqar Ali Shah Member R & S (BOR).

After the attending the cabinet meeting on Thursday, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had told media persons that the cabinet had decided to place the names of all 172 accused in fake bank accounts cases on the ECL.

The JIT probing fake accounts case in its recent report submitted to the Supreme Court has pointed out the names of 172 suspects for their alleged involvement in money laundering through fake banks accounts. The report said that at least 29 fake bank accounts had been identified which had been used for money laundering of Rs 42 billion.

On the government’s decision to place 172 suspects on ECL, Law Minister Farogh Naseem while talking to reporters on Friday said names of the suspects nominated in a case are only placed on ECL if there is a doubt that they will not return to the country in case they travel abroad. He further said that it was not necessary to get the stance of any suspect before including his name in the list. He said that the accused named in the report will get the chance to defend themselves in court. He stressed that the accountability process in the country should continue.