Friday May 26, 2023
LONDON: Former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi apparently personally benefited from a £190m money laundering deal between Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Britain's Spotlight on Corruption, anti- a corrupt NGO, he claims.
The organisation's chief executive, Susan Hawley, condemned the NCA for showing an appalling lack of judgment and transparency by agreeing to a dubious deal with the Khan government.
She said the £190 million deal appeared to be the result of corrupt dealings with Britain's NCA and the Pakistani government. The deal was struck between the UK's NCA's international anti-corruption unit and Shahzad Akbar, the PTI's former government accountability minister, who was tasked by Khan to finalize the deal with British authorities.
In an interview with Geo News, Susan Hawley said the NCA's secret settlement with a Pakistani business tycoon showed an appalling lack of judgment and transparency on the part of the agency.
She said: “The settlement, which the NCA claimed was evidence of its success in the fight against international corruption, now appears to be the result of corrupt practices. It was clear that this was brokered by the government in Pakistan at the time and apparently benefited Khan and his wife personally.
According to Susan Hawley, the deal allowed the tycoon to plead his innocence and avoid commitment in Pakistan, giving him almost complete impunity. "It is the people of Pakistan who have lost out in this horrific saga, while the UK continues to be a playground for corrupt elites from Pakistan and other countries with impunity," Hawley added.
The £190m issue came to the fore again when former Prime Minister Khan was arrested on corruption charges in the so-called Al-Qadir Trust/UK NCA case a few days ago and his arrest sparked violence and the aftermath that rocked the PTI. .
Last week, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) questioned both Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the same case, which threatens Khan's parliamentary political career.
Khan, along with his wife Bushra Bibi and other PTI leaders including Shahzad Akbar and Zulfi Bukhari, are facing investigations related to a settlement between the PTI government and a business tycoon that cost the exchequer £190 million.
According to the allegations, Khan and his wife personally benefited when the NCA transferred Rs 50 billion (£190 million at the time) to the Pakistani government as a condition of the deal with the tycoon.
Imran Khan and his wife acquired 458 kanals of land in Sohawa from the tycoon to establish Al Qadir University. During PTI's rule, UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) seized 190 million worth of tycoon's assets.
The agency said the assets would be handed over to the Pakistani government and the settlement with the tycoon was "a civil matter and does not constitute a finding of guilt".
Subsequently, on 3 December 2019, Prime Minister Khan obtained approval from his cabinet to settle with the British Crime Agency, without disclosing details of the confidential agreement and asking the cabinet to approve the deal because it was too sensitive.
It was decided that the money would be presented to the Supreme Court on behalf of the tycoon and not the State Bank of Pakistan.
Subsequently, the Al-Qadir Trust was established in Islamabad a few weeks after the Imran-led government brokered and approved a deal with the tycoon. PTI leaders Zulfi Bukhari, Babar Awan, Khan's wife Bushra Bibi and her close friend Farah Khan were appointed as members of the trust.
Soon after the deal was cleared by the Khan government, the tycoon transferred 458 kanals of land to Bukhari, a close aide of the PTI chief, which he later transferred to a trust. Later, Bukhari and Awan signed out as administrators. This trust is now registered in the name of Khan, Bushra Bibi and Farah Gogi.
NAB officials had earlier investigated alleged misuse of powers in the process of recovering "dirty money" received from the British crime agency, but after incontrovertible evidence emerged in the case, investigations were launched against Imran, Bushra Bibi, advocate Shahzad Akbar, and others were transferred to the investigation.
Britain's NCA said the £190m was given to the state of Pakistan and not to any government or PTI individual.
