RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were convicted in a much-talked £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case on Friday.
Announcing the verdict in a makeshift court at Adiala Jail, Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed handed over a 14-year jail term to Imran Khan, while Bushra Bibi received a 7-year sentence.
The court also slapped a heavy fine of Rs1 million to former prime minister Khan, while his wife will pay a fine of Rs0.5 million.
In case they fail to pay the fine, the ex-prime minister will serve six months more and Bushra three months, the judge said.
As the verdict was announced under tight security, police officials arrested former first lady Bushra Bibi from the makeshift courtroom in Adiala Jai.
Furthermore, the court also ordered the incumbent federal government to forfeit the Al-Qadir University Project Trust, located in Sohawa Tehsil of Jhelum District, under Section 10(a) of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.
The team of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), led by Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi, was present in the courtroom to attend the announcement.
Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi, Barristers Gohar Khan, Shoaib Shaheen, Salman Akram Raja, and other lawyers were also present in the facility.
The couple was indicted in the case on Feb 27, 2024, shortly after the general elections.
The verdict, which was earlier set to be announced on December 23, was delayed three times on Dec 23, 2024, and Jan 6, 2025.
On December 23, the accountability court postponed its verdict in the case until Jan 6 due to winter vacations. The decision was pronounced on January 6 due to the unavailability of Judge Nasir Javed Rana, who heard the case.
On Jan 13, the judge cited the reason for the delay as Imran and Bushra’s failure to appear before his accountability court at the Adiala Jail.
A day earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan said that a verdict in the £190 million case against me would make a mockery of Pakistan all over the world and would blacken the faces of them [establishment] even more.
Talking to the journalist and lawyers at Adiala Jail, Khan said they would punish me in a case from which I have not benefited a single penny, nor has the government suffered a single penny in loss.
Khan said that the real culprit in the graft cases is Nawaz Sharif, who received Rs 9 billion in bribes. There are numerous cases like the Mayfair Apartments case against Nawaz Sharif and Zardari.
These are the people who illegally acquired the most expensive cars from Toshakhana, he said.
Imran Khan said that all the cases against Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif were clear, but were closed by pardoning them only because they accepted the deal. In this case, Nawaz Sharif has to be held accountable for Rs 9 billion.
The PTI founder further said that Bushra Bibi is completely innocent in the Al-Qadir Trust case. The sole purpose of including her in the case was to pressurise me. Even before this, Bushra Bibi was kept in jail for 9 months without any guilt.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) started an inquiry against the former prime minister, along with his wife Bushra Bibi and other PTI leaders, related to a settlement between the PTI government and a property tycoon, which reportedly caused a loss of 190 million pounds to the national exchequer.
As per the charges, the Khan and others accused in 2019 allegedly adjusted Rs50 billion — 190 million pounds at the time — sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the government.
They are also accused of getting undue benefit in the form of over 458 kanals of land at Bakrala village in Sohawa, to establish the Al-Qadir University Project Trust, commonly known as Al-Qadir University.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed a reference in December 2023, followed by charges against Imran and his wife, Bushra Bibi, on February 27, 2024, alleging that a settlement with the British crime agency was reached and approved by then-prime minister Imran on December 3, 2019, without disclosing details of the confidential agreement.
Although it was decided that the money would be submitted to the Supreme Court on behalf of the businessman concerned, Al-Qadir Trust was set up a few weeks later following an agreement — allegedly aimed at providing legal cover to the black money received from the NCA — with the property mogul.
PTI leaders Zulfi Bukhari, Babar Awan, the then-first lady Bushra, and her close friend Farhat Shehzadi alias Farah Gogi were appointed as members of the trust.
The anti-graft watchdog further accuses Bukhari, a close aide of the PTI founder, of receiving 458 kanals of land a few months after the cabinet approved the settlement.
The land was later transferred to the trust which is now registered in the name of Imran, Bushra, and Farah after Bukhari and Awan opted out.
ISLAMABAD (Rizwan Abassi): Pakistan’s recent trade policy has gained significance amid reports that the United…
ISLAMABAD: Important legislation may be considered in the negotiations between the Pakistan People's Party (PPP)…
ISLAMABAD: If you are thinking of applying for a UK visa from Pakistan and are…
LAHORE: The Drugs Control of Punjab declared a Class-I alert after the lab tests confirmed…
KARACHI: The government has decided to include unmarried women above the age of 35 in…
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIED) has recommended setting the minimum monthly wage…