Imran Khan booked by Pakistan’s federal probe agency over misuse of funds: Report

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has reportedly booked Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, including its chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a prohibited funding case.

The party’s financial team and a manager of a private bank were also booked in the case, local media reports said.

According to an article published by Dawn.com, the case was filed through the FIA’s Corporate Banking Circle in Islamabad. A first information report (FIR) in the case said Arif Masood Naqvi — the owner of the Wooton Cricket Limited — transferred “ill-gotten” money to an account of United Bank Limited (UBL) registered under the name of the Khan’s party.

The complaint named Imran Khan, Sardar Azhar Tariq Khan, Saifullah Khan Nyazee, Syed Yunus Ali Raza, Aamer Mehmood Kiani, Tariq Rahim Sheikh, Tariq Shafi, Faisal Maqbool Shaikh, Hamid Zaman and Manzoor Ahmad Chaudhary as signatories/beneficiaries of the party’s account in question.

“The purpose stated in the swift messages of the transactions is ‘agreed transfer’ to disguise the true nature, origin, location, movement and ownership of these funds,” the complaint read.

According to the FIR, leaders of the party had violated the Foreign Exchange Act and they were declared as beneficiaries of suspicious bank accounts.

The FIR further said Naqvi was also facing trials in the United Kingdom and the United States defrauding investors, a report by news agency PTI read.

“PTI submitted an affidavit of Arif Masood Naqvi before the Election Commission of Pakistan stating therein that all the amounts collected in the accounts of WCL were submitted into PTI’s account in Pakistan. This affidavit has been proved to be false/forged as two more transactions were also made from WCL to two different accounts in Pakistan in May 2013,” the FIR said.

Last month, the Election Commission in its verdict in the prohibited funding case against PTI stated that the party did indeed receive prohibited funding.

A three-member ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikander (CEC) Sultan Raja noted that the party “knowingly and willfully” received funding from Wootton Cricket Limited. The party was a “willing recipient” of prohibited money of USD 2,121,500, it said.