ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan won’t be able to es­­c­ape conviction in the Al-Qadir Trust Case due to ‘the presence of strong evidence’, Special Assis­t­ant to Prime Minister Atta Tarrar said in a press conference on Tuesday.

Sharing details of the case at a presser, SAPM Tarrar said property tycoon Malik Riaz made a payment to purchase One Hyde Park, an apartment building in London. The matter was investigated thoroughly by the Nation­­al Crime Agency (NCA) of United Kingdom, which later declared the huge transaction to be money laundering and imposed a penalty of 190 million pounds on Mr. Riaz.

He further shared that the government of Pakis­t­­an had entered into an ag­­reement with the NCA th­­r­­­ough former SAPM Sha­hzad Akbar for the refund of 190 million pou­nds, which was accepted by the latter on the condition that the money would be spent on the welfare of people of Pakistan. He also claimed that this happened while another case against Mr Riaz for the payment of Rs 460 billion was pending before the Supreme Court.

Mr. Tarrar also claimed that Mr Akbar presented another agreement in a sealed envelope to the federal cabinet for approval, which was regarding the transfer of 190 million pounds to the apex court’s account to adjust the property tycoon’s liability, and it was referred to as ‘confidentiality agreement’. Acco­­rding to Mr Tarrar, it was was passed by Mr Khan in hurry, while other members of the assembly questioned the decision.

Mr Tarrar further add­ed that for the said favor, Riaz gifted 458 kanals land to Mr Khan. Former cabinet member Zulfi Bukhari established a trust with the name of the Al-Qadir Trust and transferred the land in the name of Mr Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and Farah Khan. Mr Tarrar also said that Bushra Bibi’s name was written as ‘Bushra Khan’ in the agreement while she used a different name on her identity card.

Tarrar added that initially the Al-Qadir Trust had Rs. 15 million in its account, but later at different times, more than Rs 200 million was deposited in the account.

Calling the Al-Qadir Trust case ‘the biggest financial scam in the history of Pakistan’, Mr Tar­rar further claimed the university was a fake institution since it was not approved by the HEC.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2023