By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The anti-corruption watchdog on Friday filed charges against former prime minister Imran Khan and seven others, accusing them of receiving billions of rupees and vast tracts of land from a real estate developer in exchange for legalising funds that were returned by the UK in a money laundering case.
Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, and his wife Bushra Bibi allegedly obtained illegal benefits from Bahria Town Ltd, a company owned by Malik Riaz, one of the country’s richest men, during Khan’s tenure as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.
The Al-Qadir Trust case relates to the alleged illegal acquisition of land for and construction of Al-Qadir University, a religious institution founded by Khan and his wife. The NAB alleged that Khan and his wife used their influence to obtain land and funds from Bahria Town for the university, which was not registered with the relevant authorities.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) submitted the reference, or indictment, to an accountability court in Islamabad, saying that the accused had committed “corruption and corrupt practices” under the National Accountability Ordinance, a law that empowers the agency to investigate and prosecute graft cases.
The reference said that Khan played a “pivotal role” in the illicit transfer of funds that were meant for the state, which ultimately benefited Riaz.
It also said that Khan misled the then cabinet by concealing the facts related to a settlement agreement with the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), which had identified and returned 140 million pounds to Pakistan in a money laundering case against Riaz and his family.
The money was supposed to be deposited in the national exchequer, but it was adjusted in the recovery of Rs450 billion liabilities of Bahria Town Karachi, a mega housing project that was embroiled in a land scam, the reference said.
The others named in the reference include Farhat Shahzadi, a close friend of Khan’s spouse, former special assistants to the prime minister Mirza Shahzad Akbar and Zulfi Bukhari, a legal expert for the PTI government’s Assets Recovery Unit Ziaul Mustafa Nasim and Ahmed Riaz, a relative of Malik Riaz.
The NAB said that the accused were given multiple opportunities to justify and provide information, but they “deliberately, with malafide intention, refused to provide the information on one or the other pretext.”
“Furthermore, it is established through their responses that they have nothing in their defence to rebut the above-mentioned allegations. Thus, they all have committed an offence,” the reference said.
It pleaded that the eight suspects be tried and punished under the law by the court or any other to which the reference was entrusted.
Khan, who is already in jail in another corruption case, was arrested by the NAB in the Al-Qadir Trust case on May 9.Khan, a former cricket star who rose to power on an anti-corruption platform, has denied the charges and accused the NAB of being a tool of political victimization by the powerful military.
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