Lawyer says Aleema Khan sold inheritance to buy offshore property

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan and her husband sold their local inheritance to buy property abroad, said her lawyer Salman Akram Raja on Friday.

In his statement, Salman Akram said the sources of Aleema Khan’s income and assets have nothing to do with any of the charities with which she is associated or with any of her siblings.

He said the money earned from selling the inheritance was transferred out of Pakistan through banks, adding that profit earned from the textile business was also used to buy assets abroad.

The lawyer said Aleema Khan, wife of Sohail Khan, has made available to him records pertaining to the purchase of certain properties outside Pakistan. Based on these record and confirmation made by a senior chartered accountant, Salman Akram said the financing of the said properties took place through the sources including sale of property owned in Pakistan, including property owned inherited by Aleema Khan’s husband, and remission of funds from Pakistan through banking channels.

According to the lawyer, Aleema Khan was a 50 per cent owner of a textile company which exports its products. He added that foreign earnings of this company were kept abroad and used for purchasing the assets. The counsel further stated that the total equity (non-loan) investment made by his client or her husband in the purchase of properties outside Pakistan was not more than Rs72.5 million spread over several years.

Additionally, he said, loans were taken by keeping assets as collateral in foreign banks.

The Supreme Court on December 13 had ordered Aleema Khan to pay Rs29.4 million in taxes and fines for concealing her properties abroad warning that failure to deposit the amount would entail confiscation of here properties. The court had announced this while hearing a case against 44 politically exposed individuals for their benamidars who posses properties abroad.

Salman Akram Raja stated in the statement that his client has partially paid, and is in the process of paying fully, the tax assessed and demanded with respect to her assets.