NAB fast-tracks a £190m scam investigation against 22 former cabinet members

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An undated image of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) building in Islamabad, Pakistan.  — Online/File
An undated image of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) building in Islamabad, Pakistan. — Online/File
  • Former ministers being probed include members of PTI and other parties.
  • NAB is looking for documents of vehicles bought or sold by ex-ministers.
  • Details of Hammad Azhar, Farogh Naseem, Sheikh Rashid, others wanted.

ISLAMABAD: By further tightening the noose around Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has accelerated its investigation against 22 former federal ministers in the £190m settlement case related to money transfer of the UK National Crime Agency (NCA) account, The news reported.

The anti-turnover watchdog has sent letters to all provincial excise departments requesting the records of vehicles, properties and bank accounts of the former cabinet members, including members of political parties other than PTI.

These former ministers are Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Murad Saeed, Pervez Khattak, Zubaida Jalal, Hammad Azhar, Shafqat Mehmood, Shireen Mazari, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Ejaz Ahmed Shah, Ali Amin Gandapur, Farogh Naseem, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Asad Umar, Omer Ayub , Fawad Chaudhary, Mehboob Sultan, Faisal Vawda, Ali Zaidi, Azam Swati, Sheikh Rashid, Zaheeruddin Babar Awan and others.

Moreover, NAB also requested the details or copies of certified documents of vehicles bought or sold by the former ministers during the period from January 2018 to 2023.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau’s Joint Investigation Team (CIT) investigating the corruption case had already recorded statements from the former ministers.

According to details, the majority of the ex-ministers appeared before the CIT, while some submitted their replies through their lawyers when summoned.

It can be noted that the PTI chief and his wife Bushra Bibi were summoned on June 7 in connection with the same investigation.

The former first lady has been asked to record her statement as a witness because she is the trustee of the Al-Qadir University Trust, while the CIT has called the former prime minister to submit the answer to a questionnaire given to him at his last performance on May 23.

The case

The British government in 2019 discovered a whopping £140 million in an account owned by the son of a renowned Pakistani property magnate and his wife from 2018 to 2019.

The NCA quickly froze the funds and suspected the criminal origin of the proceeds.

Surprisingly, neither the person nor his wife have contested the account freezing. After proper legal processes, the UK returned the laundered funds to the Pakistani government in 2019.

This decision was announced via a joint press release from the Assets Recovery Unit (ARU) and the NCA.

The case then made its way to Pakistan’s Federal Cabinet on December 3, 2019, where it was presented in a sealed envelope by the then Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM), Mirza Shahzad Akbar.

The purpose of the presentation was to discuss the return of the money, which would be funneled into an account overseen by the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

This particular account was linked to the recovery of a whopping Rs460 billion from the same real estate tycoon, in connection with fines levied against a housing scheme in Karachi.

“[PTI chief] approved the settlement without his cabinet members being able to read it,” a source familiar with the investigation told The News.

Investigations have revealed that, as part of an agreement to return the laundered money, the real estate magnate offered a substantial compensation package.

This included the transfer of 458 Kanal, 4 Marla and 58 square feet of land in Jhelum, in addition to cash amounting to Rs 285 million, which was earmarked for the Al-Qadir Trust.

Al-Qadir Trust’s trustees included then Prime Minister Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and his senior advisers Zulfiqar Bukhari and Babar Awan. However, it is worth noting that Awan and Bukhari’s positions were subsequently withdrawn on April 22, 2020.


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