NAB sees its NCA £190m case against IK strengthened after SC’s decision

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court’s (SC) decision on Thursday to transfer the UK National Crime Agency’s repatriated money to the public kitty has strengthened NAB’s NCA £190 million case- also known as Al-Qadir Trust case- against Imran Khan and others.

Sources in the NAB said that the SC’s decision has reversed what Imran Khan had done and thus proved that the £190m, repatriated to Pakistan by NCA, actually belonged to the state of Pakistan. Imran Khan government following a controversial cabinet decision had transferred the NCA repatriated amount to the Supreme Court’s account on behalf of Bahria Town instead of depositing it in the national exchequer.

The NAB is presently questioning the jailed PTI chairman in the same case. A senior source in the Bureau told The News that after the ongoing probe, the NAB will file a corruption reference in the accountability court against Imran Khan and others. “It’s in the final stages,” the source said.

Former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi are alleged to have benefited from the PTI government’s handling of NCA repatriated £190 million. It is said that the NCA had surrendered the amount to the state of Pakistan but Imran Khan government transferred the amount to the SC’s account on behalf of Bahria Town.

It is alleged that without sharing the details of the case, the then prime minister Imran Khan while showing a sealed envelope got approval from his cabinet for the decision of depositing the NCA repatriated money to the SC’s account on behalf of Bahria Town.

Imran Khan and his wife got 458 kanals of land in Sohawa from the same Bahria Town to establish Al Qadir University. During the PTI government, UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) seized the tycoon’s assets worth £190 million.

A few weeks after Imran Khan’s cabinet decision in favour of Bahria Town, the Al-Qadir Trust was registered in Islamabad. Initially PTI leaders Zulfi Bukhari, Babar Awan, Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, and her close friend Farah Khan were appointed as members of the trust.

The Bahria Town transferred 458 canals of land to Bukhari, a close aide of the PTI chief, which he later transferred to the trust. Later, Bukhari and Awan opted out as the trustees. That trust is now registered in the name of Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi, Farah Shahzadi and another person.

The NAB was initially probing the controversial handling of the NCA repatriated millions by the Imran Khan government to the benefit of Bahria Town but following the emergence of details pertaining to Al-Qadir Trust, the inquiry against Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi, Barrister Shahzad Akbar, and others was converted into an investigation.

Recently following NAB’s request, an accountability court in Islamabad issued arrest warrant for Imran Khan in Toshakhana and NCA £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case.