Billions found in Pakistani vendor's bank account

A poor street vendor in Pakistan came under the radar of investigation agencies after a hefty amount of Rs 2.25 billion was discovered in his bank account, according to a media report which said the deposit was linked with a multi-billion rupee money laundering scam involving former president Asif Ali Zardari.

Abdul Qadir, a resident of Orangi Town, Karachi, learned that he has Rs2.225 billion in his bank account.

He only came to know about the hefty amount when he got a letter from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the News reported.

"My brother told me that there's a letter from the investigation agency in my name and that I have been summoned," he told the media.

"I am the world's number one unlucky person. I have, as they say, billions in my account but I cannot use some of it to at least somewhat improve my state of living," said Qadir.

The sources the FIA have revealed that the hefty amount of Rs2.25 billion discovered in Qasir's bank account was linked with multi-billion rupee money laundering scam involving PPP co-chairman Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur, the report said.

Sources say the deposit was unearthed during investigations related to the biggest money laundering scam in Sindh's history.

There are many persons like Abdul Qadir who do not know about existence of accounts in their names with hefty amounts, the sources said said, adding that the investigators have found dozens of such accounts opened in the names of people belonging to the lower strata mostly labourers.

The official claimed that there are over 500 such accounts in the country and the investigators are tracing them.

A joint investigation team, formed by the Supreme Court, has been inquiring into the money laundering of Rs35 billion through fake bank accounts in the first week of September.