KARACHI: Pakistan's who's who are being investigated for committing white-collar crimes under the US intra-trading legislation. According to sources, an FBI probe into a multi-million dollar insider-trading case involving a Pakistani banker may be looking at the involvement of some top Pakistani decision makers, including prime minister Shaukat Aziz, in the scandal.

The probe is also looking at some top bankers and government officials who are allegedly involved in money-laundering operations for Al Qaida, sources say.

The scam came to light recently when Hafiz Naseem, a Pakistani banker, was arrested in New York in the first week of May and charged with 26 counts of conspiracy and securities fraud. He is accused of leaking details about nine deals, including the record $32 billion leveraged buyout of Texas energy giant TXU.

A FBI team arrived in Pakistan recently to probe the case and interviewed many top Pakistani bankers, say sources. Among those the FBI wanted to talk to, according to sources, were the financial adviser to the Prime Minister, Salman Shah; president of National Bank of Pakistan, Ali Raza;

Chief of House Building Finance Corporation, Zaigham Mehmood; chairman of Arif Habib Brokerage Houses, Arif
Habib; chairman of Karachi Stock Exchange, Shaukat Tareen; and chairman of Pakistan International
Airlines, Zafar Ali Khan.

The prime minister, formerly a senior official in Citi Group, has also been linked to the probe, sources claim.