Foreign funding case: PTI complains ECP body not verifying, studying party’s funding details

ISLAMABAD: Finance secretary of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has complained that the Election Commission of Pakistan’s scrutiny committee had neither yet verified and authenticated the applicant Akbar S Babar’s allegations relating to the party funding nor studied the account details, provided to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

He also brushed aside the impression that PTI had not attended the recent committee meeting, saying they were not informed about the meeting. However, a senior ECP official, when contacted, contested this and insisted that the parties concerned, as in the past, had been duly intimated about the meeting.

The ECP official also said that the scrutiny committee was exactly doing what was mandated by the ECP to do i.e. to look into the PTI accounts and then furnish a report thereon and submit to the ECP. Babar, a former close aide of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, had alleged irregularities in PTI foreign funding and filed an application in the ECP in November 2014.

“The whole issue started on Babar’s application, yet in total disregard to the Supreme Court decisions (Ref. Hanif Abassi's case, who copied his case) and ECP own TORs that allegations be verified, yet to the best judgment of this committee they have not done nor bothered to study our submitted details,” said PTI Central Finance Secretary Sardar Ashar Tariq while talking to The News. About the committee meeting on January 09, he claimed that neither PTI nor their lawyer was informed about it. He vowed to continue attending its meeting in future. He rejected the allegations of deliberately delaying proceedings of the committee, employing tactics.

Asked regarding 26 accounts, mentioned in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) report, he said whatever was provided by banks so far were sub accounts, few closed accounts and AJK accounts. He added had the committee instead of numbers provided complete details, they would have been able to respond. “However we will not rest till completion of details,” he noted. He claimed that the SBP had refuted the reports of PTI having fake accounts, as identified in its report submitted to the ECP.

On 18 fake accounts, he said that PTI regularly submitted its central accounts, which are less than a dozen regularly in the ECP and the SBP independently refuted news about PTI’s fake accounts identified in SBP’s report to ECP in categorical terms. “We should be clear that the news about undeclared accounts is altogether fabrication, misrepresentation of facts and contrary to the reality,” he noted.

“Addressing the question about 18 undeclared accounts story, we should keep in mind: There are 8 accounts, we manage centrally through Central Finance Board & Central Secretary Finance. With main accounts these are sub and provincial accounts which in reporting are clubbed into main accounts already given to ECP.

There are few closed accounts and all allegations and words ‘fake, hidden, are baseless and political point scoring,” he charged. He explained other than these accounts there are no operational accounts, which could be referred to or identified as PTI’s accounts. “In order to ensure PTI strict financial discipline, we have written to all commercial banks to collect information about accounts that are in any way being operated in the name of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf,” he said.

“We will scrutinise information provided by these banks and we will take strict action if any factious account(s) is found,” he maintained, adding PTI AJK has its separate accounts and is being regulated by the Election Commission of AJK, which is an entity separate from the Election Commission of Pakistan,” he said. PTI finance secretary asserted that last but not the least PTI was well aware of both financial and electoral laws of the country and believed in adherence to these laws in letter and spirit.

“We should not be expected to indulge into unlawful concealment of information from the regulators (ECP) when we know that the information is already available with SBP. Political parties that have a lot to explain in terms of corruption and ill-gotten wealth should firstly, pay attention to their own course of action,” he noted.

Talking to this correspondent, Babar said accounts and sub-accounts clubbed in main accounts was a novel way to mislead, adding the law required all accounts should be disclosed.

He explained the committee formed in March 2018 requisitioned 10 financial instruments including bank statements for the period 2009-2013. He noted the ECP committee order sheets had been shared with both parties that reflect the proceedings of the committee as well as PTI delaying tactics in producing the financial documents. After failing to receive the same, he continued, the committee recommended to the commission to seek the same from the State Bank. “ECP Committee orders are on record of PTI delays and stalling to produce the documents,” he claimed.

Babar pointed out that ECP wrote a letter to SBP on July 3, 2018 to produce all PTI bank statements and other financial details by July 12, 2018. SBP wrote to the presidents of all banks to produce the same by July 16, 2018. The bank statements, he made it clear, were opened in the presence of the PTI lawyer and accountant in October 2018. The auditor disclosed that there were 26 bank statements while only 8 were revealed in their annual audit reports submitted before the ECP. “The PTI was asked to submit answers on huge dollar amounts credited in bank accounts identified in the presence of their representatives.

In the January 9, 2019, the committee meeting, PTI was expected to justify the 18 concealed accounts and the amounts identified by the auditors. Instead, no PTI representative chose to show up despite being informed by the ECP. He claimed the committee expressed its displeasure that PTI did not even bother to communicate verbally or in writing about not showing up. The entire proceeding was documented in the ECP committee order sheet. It was also announced that PTI would be informed in writing about their no-show before setting the next date of the meeting.