Ads featuring fugitive suspects put up in £190m case

ISLAMABAD: On the directives of the accountability court, advertisements featuring fugitive suspects in the 190 million pound scandal case were published outside the Judicial Complex on Friday.

The accused named Shahzad Akbar, Zulfiqar Bukhari, Farah Gogi and others have been officially summoned to appear before the accountability court on January 6 as indicated in the advertisements. Judge Muhammad Bashir had ordered the release of advertisements. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) former chairman Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi are also named as accused in the reference.

Imran Khan is facing charges of corruption of billions of rupees in the case.

The former prime minister along with his wife and some PTI leaders are facing a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) inquiry related to a settlement which reportedly caused a loss of £190 million to the national exchequer.

Irked by the suspects’ prolonged absence from the court’s proceedings, the judge ordered to summon the accused via advertisements. Later, the advertisements against the co-accused in the case were pasted outside the Judicial Complex, Islamabad.

The court ordered the co-accused in the case to appear before the court on January 6, 2024.

It is pertinent to mention here that currently, Akbar is in the United Kingdom. Last month, Akbar came under an acid attack, confirmed the UK police.

Gogi, a close friend of Bushra Bibi, reportedly left for Dubai on April 5 last year. Zulfiqar Bukhari had left the country after a case was registered against him in March this year.

Last week, NAB filed a corruption reference against Imran, his wife and other suspects in the £190 million settlement case. In total 8 people have been named in the reference.