PML-N concealed 9 accounts from ECP: Farrukh Habib

Minister says PPP kept 9 out of its 12 accounts secret from election authority in 2013, 11 in 2014 and 10 in 2015

ISLAMABAD:

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib on Monday said the perusal of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) financial documents had revealed that nine accounts were hidden by the party from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The PML-N only managed to submit bank statements of two such accounts when it was revealed that the party kept nine accounts a secret, the minister told the media outside the ECP office here.

جانچ پڑتال میں ن لیگ کے 9 خفیہ اکاؤنٹس سامنے آئے ہیں

وفاقی وزیر مملکت اطلاعات و نشریات فرخ حبیب کی میڈیا سے گفتگو#APPNews @FarrukhHabibISF @MoIB_Official pic.twitter.com/AZi1dvPIzA

— APP 🇵🇰 (@appcsocialmedia) January 3, 2022

The minister’s statements came after a damning report released by the ECP, available with The Express Tribune, revealed that PML-N had concealed income and its sources by not providing bank statements of seven accounts while a total of nine accounts were used by the party from 2013 to 2015.

The bank accounts were revealed during the scrutiny process which were previously not disclosed to the polls supervisory body or in the audited accounts.

The report disclosed that no records of the five bank accounts, which the PML-N maintained for provincial chapters of Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh, were revealed to the ECP.

Sharing details of a report prepared by his party's financial experts on secret accounts of different political parties, Habib said both the PML-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party had kept several of their bank accounts a secret from the national election watchdog.

Also read: ECP to hold public hearing on PTI foreign funding case

He said the PML-N received donations worth over Rs600 million but failed to produce 98 per cent record of them. “They did not have any receipt or other document to prove the source of donations.”

The PML-N, he said, had received donations worth over Rs400 million from 2013 to 2015.

Similarly, the PPP, he said of the total 12 party accounts, kept nine accounts a secret from the ECP in 2013, 11 in 2014 and 10 in 2015.

The PML-N and the PPP did not disclose the accounts to provide shelter to the donors, he added. “They just hide them to protect their interests.”

Habib said the PTI government believed in transparency as it had provided the detail of its 40,000 donors, urging all the political parties to submit details of their funding to the scrutiny committee of the ECP.

He urged the ECP to take all legal steps against those political parties who concealed facts from the scrutiny committee.

پیپلز پارٹی نے الیکشن کمیشن میں 12 اکاونٹس میں سے صرف 1 یا 2 اکاؤنٹ ظاہر کیے ہیں

وفاقی وزیر مملکت اطلاعات و نشریات فرخ حبیب کی میڈیا سے گفتگو#APPNews @FarrukhHabibISF @MoIB_Official pic.twitter.com/L9lRhOFjJN

— APP 🇵🇰 (@appcsocialmedia) January 3, 2022

‘Suspicious transactions’

The ECP report detected “suspicious transactions” in the said PML-N bank accounts for which documentation and explanations were gathered at a later scale.

The findings explained that no income or minimal income was declared in audited accounts of provincial chapters of Punjab, K-P and Sindh for the aforementioned period, adding that the non-provision of bank statements in respect of provincial chapters led the ECP to believe that the party intended to hide funds as they may have been received from prohibited sources.

It was highlighted that in respect of the central secretariat, records of two bank accounts were not provided. As per the list of donors, Rs9.729 million was deposited in an account during 2013 to 2015, which remains unverified.

Further, bank statements for the majority of bank accounts, including the provincial chapters’, were concealed to avoid questions on any of the funds received in these accounts, as it could lead to their source, it added.

“The party did not submit consolidated accounts in respect of any of the years from 2013 to 2015,” the report observed, adding that it was noteworthy that the certificate required under Article 13 of the Political Parties Order, 2002 read with Rule 4 of the Political Parties Rules 2002 which certifies that the party has not received funds from prohibited source did not cover the whole affairs of the party.

“Situation is further aggravated by fact that no records including audited financial statements were available for Islamabad and Balochistan chapters.”

‘PPP concealed accounts to avoid questions’

In a separate report, the ECP revealed the findings of its scrutiny committee and that bank statements for the majority of accounts of the party were concealed to avoid questions on any of the funds received in these accounts to hide their source. Further, balances amounting to Rs342.95 million and profit amounting to Rs35.41 million remain unverified.

It said that receipts amounting to Rs62.63 million received in the bank were concealed and not disclosed in audited accounts of 2014. There is no list of donors maintained by the party for Rs7.11 million included as ticket fee/subscription in the audited accounts.

“The party not only received contribution amounting to Rs9.76 million from another political party (4P) but also contributed an amount of Rs106.27 million to that political party," the report added.