Al-Qadir Trust case: Imran nabbed for 'corruption of billions'

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan established a trust for the Al-Qadir University Project on December 26, 2019, just weeks after his cabinet’s decision regarding a real estate developer, who later became the university’s donor.

Three weeks before the registration of the trust on December 2, 2019, the Imran Khan cabinet took up the matter concerning Accounts Freezing Orders (AFOs) and Repatriation of Funds to Pakistan by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the real estate tycoon and family case.

The National Crime Agency in England closed an investigation against the real estate tycoon, and around 140 million pounds were repatriated to Pakistan from his account abroad.

But interestingly, the money landed in the Supreme Court’s account at the National Bank of Pakistan. It raised the question of whether the money was to be transferred to a government account or deposited with the Supreme Court account, as the tycoon had also agreed to pay Rs460 billion to the apex court as a penalty in a case about real estate in Karachi.

In the very next month after the registration of the trust deed in the Islamabad Sub-Registrar Office, the real estate developer purchased land around 460 kanals in Jhelum and transferred the land in the name of Zulfi Bukhari. For the purpose of stamp duty, the value of the land was fixed at Rs243 million at that time.

On January 22, 2021, after the creation of the trust, Zulfi Bukhari transferred this land in the name of the trust. This land measuring 458 kanals is situated in Mouza Bakrala, Sohawa tehsil, Jhelum district, in the name of Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari, custodian of Al-Qadir.

On March 24, 2021, this donation of land along with other donations like infrastructure and other provisions by the real estate were acknowledged through an agreement signed with Bushra Bibi at Imran Khan’s residence while Khan was holding the Prime Minister’s Office.

The real estate developer also confirmed in the agreement that he will bear all the expenses for establishing and running the proposed Al-Qadir University and that it will contribute funds or money to the trust for setting up and running the Al-Qadir Project. From January 2021 to December 2021, Al-Qadir Trust received Rs180 million in donations.

From July 2020 to June 2021, the total income of the trust was also in the millions, while the total expenditure, including the salaries of the staff and workers, was only around Rs8.58 million.

The NAB had recently converted its inquiry into an investigation against Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi, and others for the alleged gain of hundreds of kanals of land in the name of Al-Qadir University Trust from a real estate developer in return for the PTI government’s favour to the latter, involving around Rs50 billion. The NAB, which was earlier holding an inquiry into alleged misuse of authority, financial gains and criminal breach of trust in the recovery of crime proceeds received from the UK and illegal sealing of its records against Imran Khan and others, had found adequate material to convert the inquiry into an investigation.

In corruption cases, the NAB generally follows three steps before filing a reference. The first step is complaint verification. If the complaint is verified, an inquiry is ordered as the second step. At this stage, if satisfactory evidence is found available to proceed further, the inquiry is converted into an investigation. Otherwise, the inquiry is closed.

At the investigation stage, an accused is directly probed and, if required, can even be arrested for questioning to finally conclude whether the case is worth pursuing in court or not.