NCA £190m case: Azam Khan, others' names 'removed' from ECL

ISLAMABAD: In a major development, the federal government on Monday removed the names of former principal secretary Azam Khan and others from the Exit Control List (ECL) in National Crime Agency (NCA) £190 million scandal, ARY News reported citing sources.

According to sources, the federal cabinet approved the removal of names of eight individuals from the ECL on the recommendation of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

However, the names of PTI’s founder Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi, Farah Khan and Zulfi Bukhari will remain on the ECL. Meanwhile, the name of former principal secretary to Prime Minister, Azam Khan, has been removed from the ECL, sources added.

Other individuals whose names have been removed from the list include Raja Manzoor Kiani, Arif Rahim, Naveed Akbar, Sikandar Hayat, Nisar Muhammad, Ghulam Hyder and Arif Nazeer Butt. The individuals’ names were included in the ECL in connection with the 190 million pound case.

On April 22, in a significant development, the federal government removed the names of Murad Saeed and other Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, who were part of the then cabinet, from Exit Control List (ECL) on recommendation of National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The names, removed from the ECL, include Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Ghulam Sarwar, Parvez Khattak, Shafqat Mahmood, Ijaz Shah, Ali Zaidi, Khusro Bakhtiar, Azam Swati, Asad Umar, Omar Ayub, Mehboob Sultan, Fawad Chaudhry, Farog Naseem and Shireen Mazari.

It is pertinent to mention here that former principal secretary Azam Khan and others are among witnesses in National Crime Agency (NCA) £190 million scandal.

Former principal secretary Azam Khan earlier recorded his statement in the NCA £190m scandal before NAB. Azam Khan remained the principal secretary of former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan.

NCA £190m scandal

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had launched an investigation against Imran Khan and his wife and others for the alleged gain of hundreds of canals of land in the name of Al Qadir University Trust, which reportedly caused a loss of 190 million pounds to the national exchequer.

As per the charges, the former prime minister and others accused allegedly adjusted Rs50 billion — 190 million pounds at the time — sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the government.

The PTI chief registered Trust for Al-Qadir University Project on Dec 26, 2019.