ISLAMABAD (Daily Point)– The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has officially lodged a corruption reference against former Prime Minister Imran Khan, his wife, and several other individuals in connection with the £190 million settlement case.
Filed by Deputy Prosecutor General Muzafar Abbasi and investigative officer Umar Nadeem, the reference is currently under examination at an accountability court in Islamabad.
In addition to Imran Khan and his wife, the reference includes names such as Zulfi Bukhari, Shahzad Akbar, Barrister Zia-ul-Mustafa Nazeer, and three others, totaling eight suspects. This development follows the recent approval by the federal cabinet to proceed with the jail trial of the PTI chairman in corruption cases.
The cabinet’s decision, conveyed through a summary by the Ministry of Law and Justice, received approval via circulation. The trial, related to the £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) case in the UK and the Toshakhana case, will take place in Adiala jail, considering the prevailing law and order situation.
A notification issued by the ministry on November 28 specifies the trial venue and cites misuse of authority, illegal sale of gifted state assets, among other charges.
The £190 million settlement case involves allegations of corruption amounting to billions of rupees against Imran Khan, his wife, and other PTI leaders. The NAB inquiry focuses on a settlement between the PTI government and a property tycoon, resulting in a reported £190 million loss to the national exchequer.
According to the charges, the accused, including Khan, adjusted Rs50 billion (equivalent to £190 million at the time) sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency as part of an agreement with the property tycoon. The accusations also include obtaining undue benefits, such as over 458 kanals of land for establishing Al Qadir University.
The NCA seized assets worth £190 million from the property tycoon during the PTI government, intending to pass them to the Pakistani government. The settlement with the tycoon was deemed a civil matter, and then-Prime Minister Khan approved the agreement in December 2019 without disclosing its details.
Subsequent developments include the establishment of the Al-Qadir Trust, with members initially including Zulfi Bukhari, Babar Awan, Bushra Bibi, and Farah Khan. Allegations involve the transfer of land from the property tycoon to Bukhari and later to the trust, with NAB officials investigating the potential misuse of powers in the recovery process of funds received from the UK crime agency.
The inquiry evolved into an investigation based on “irrefutable evidence,” with NAB officials asserting that Khan and his wife obtained valuable land in exchange for providing legal cover to the property tycoon’s black money received from the UK crime agency.
