PM Imran ‘puzzled and perplexed’ by those defending plunderers of nation’s wealth

Prime minister says Panamagate and fake accounts case manifests how states fail

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday termed the joint investigation reports (JIT) in Panamagate and fake accounts as  "case studies in how states fail".

The premier took to the micro-blogging website Twitter a day after accountability court convicted deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Al-Azizia reference while Supreme Court relayed findings of JIT in a money laundering case against former president Asif Ali Zardari.

"The Panama JIT report & the Fake Accounts JIT report are case studies in how states fail - getting impoverished & drowning in debt," he said. "The scale & methods used for siphoning off public money are incredulous & mind-boggling."

In a jibe intended towards Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) supporters, Imran said that he was "puzzled and perplexed by those who, despite having read the two reports, were defending the plunderers."

I am puzzled & perplexed by those who, despite having read the two reports, are still defending the plunderers. https://t.co/ExUNShuqdE

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) December 25, 2018

The top court on Monday banned the sale, purchase and transfer of properties owned by three business groups after a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) submitted its report revealing that Rs42 billion was laundered through 29 fake bank accounts that had also been used to pay expenses of former president Asif Zardari’s home.

The JIT report claimed misdeclaration of assets by Asif Zardari in his nomination papers submitted in the 2018 general elections.



Legal experts say that if JIT’s findings are proven true then Zardari may be disqualified for lifetime as a lawmaker by the Supreme Court under Article 62 (1) (f) of the constitution.

Separately, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was convicted by an accountability court in Al-Azizia corruption reference filed by National Accountability Bureau in light of the Supreme Court’s Panamagate verdict. The court awarded him seven years imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs1.5 billion.