ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan, the founder of PTI, along with his wife Bushra Bibi, has been formally indicted in a £190 million scandal reference case during a court hearing held in Adiala Jail accountability court on Tuesday.
The court has requested the presence of five witnesses for the upcoming hearing. The session was presided over by Accountability Court judge Nasir Javed Rana in Adiala Jail, where the verdict was announced.
Both Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi denied the allegations brought against them by the prosecution.
An investigation report concerning the 190 million-pound scam case has revealed concerning details implicating former Prime Minister Imran Khan and others.
According to the report, the records of correspondence with the UK’s National Crime Agency, maintained by the Asset Recovery Unit of the previous government, have mysteriously vanished.
Additionally, the report confirms a meeting between Malik Riaz and former Prime Minister Imran Khan, along with former accountability adviser Shahzad Akbar, prior to the settlement involving 190 million pounds.
The meeting, as per records from the PM House, occurred on July 11, 2019.
The report indicates that the missing records were under the custody of Shahzad Akbar and Ziaul Mustafa Naseem. These records, which belonged to the state of Pakistan, were allegedly made to disappear in order to conceal illicit activities.
The disappearance of these records was aimed at obstructing the investigation, the report alleges, adding that an inquiry by the Cabinet Division confirmed their absence.
Furthermore, the report holds Shahzad Akbar and Ziaul Mustafa Naseem accountable for the loss of these records.
The investigation report also confirms correspondence with the British NCA, as acknowledged by Asset Recovery Unit Secretary Manzoor Kayani. The unit had corresponded with Usman Ahmed, the country manager of the NCA.
The report outlines that following initial letters to the NCA regarding the 1 Hyde Park, London property and money laundering investigations, the NCA froze UK bank accounts.
A subsequent letter dated April 18, 2019, provided peculiar justifications to the NCA, as directed by Shahzad Akbar, indicating that Ali Malik Riaz had disclosed the 1 Hyde Park property and paid taxes as per Pakistani law.
This letter suggested that no further action could be taken regarding the property in Pakistan.
Additionally, the report mentions that the former accountability adviser had submitted a “Deed of Confidentiality” to the NCA before receiving cabinet approval, allegedly delivering the summary to the Prime Minister’s House for approval “by hand.”
The report concludes that there is no existing record of the summary’s collection.
