Imran Khan, 10 others booked in foreign funding case

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has registered a case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and 10 others over accusations of receiving foreign funding, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

The case has been registered by the FIA Corporate Banking Circle.

The case’s First Information Report (FIR) stated that the accused including former premier Imran Khan violated Foreign Exchange Act and all of the nominated persons were beneficiaries of the private bank account.

READ: FOREIGN FUNDING CASE: IMRAN KHAN LIKELY TO BE ARRESTED

The nominated persons also included Sardar Azhar Tariq, Saifullah Niazi, Syed Younus, Aamer Mehmood Kiani, Tariq Shaikh and Tariq Shafi, whereas, the manager of the private bank was nominated.

According to the FIA, PTI had a private bank account titled Naya Pakistan, whereas, the bank manager had illegally permitted the accused to operate the account.

It read that $2.1 million had been deposited by Abraaj Group, whereas, PTI had submitted Arif Naqvi’s affidavit to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that the company deposited the huge sum of money to the political party’s bank account.

The FIA stated in the FIR that the affidavit was false and counterfeit. The political party had also received funds from Wootton Cricket and the head of the private bank facilitated the accused by providing suspicious records.

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Hamid Zaman’s revelations

PTI leader Hamid Zaman had made key revelations during the interrogation of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the prohibited funding case.

The probe report was submitted by the FIA to the local court in the previous hearing that claimed Zaman opened three bank accounts with the PTI leadership.

The intelligence agency claimed in its report to the local court that the arrested PTI leader Hamid Zaman made important revelations during the interrogation into the prohibited funding case against the political party.

It stated that two out of three bank accounts were foreign currency accounts by using the name of Insaf Trust. It was revealed that one of the bank accounts was a US dollar account, the second was a Pound sterling account and the third account was a local currency account.

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According to the FIA report, a sum of $625,000 had been deposited to a bank account on May 8, 2013. Rs36 million was transferred to a private company namely Communication Spot on May 9, 2013, just a day after the huge sum of money was deposited into the account.

Moreover, Rs25 million had been transferred to another private company on May 10, 2013, whereas, the deposited money to the bank account was completely used for the political campaign of the PTI.

The FIA had arrested PTI leader Hamid Zaman in a case pertaining to PTI prohibited funding. The investigation agency registered a case against PTI leader and trustee of Insaf Trust – Hamid Zaman – over prohibited funding.

READ: PROHIBITED FUNDING: PTI’S PLEA AGAINST FIA INQUIRY FIXED FOR HEARING

It is pertinent to mention here that the intelligence agency has already arrested Senator Saifullah Niazi, Tariq Shafi and Hamid Zaman. The First Information Report (FIR) of the foreign funding case also included nominated persons and ‘others’.

On October 7, sources told ARY News that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah ordered concerned authorities to lodge a case against Imran Khan. The federal government has started mulling over options to arrest the PTI chief or put him under house arrest, sources added.

ECP verdict

The ECP bench in its reserved verdict said prohibited funding against PTI had been proven. ECP, in its unanimous verdict, ruled that the party received funds from business tycoon Arif Naqvi and from 34 foreign nationals.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja, comprising Nisar Ahmed Durrani and Shah Muhammad Jatoi announced the reserved verdict.

The ECP had also stated in its verdict that former prime minister Imran Khan submitted a misdeclaration in the PTI prohibited funding case. The electoral watchdog also decided to issue a show-cause notice to the PTI to explain why the commission should not seize the funds it received.