Imran agrees to cooperate with NAB

PTI chief tells anti-graft body he’ll attend probe into ‘£190m scandal'

ISLAMABAD:

PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday agreed to attend the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) office in Rawalpindi on May 23 (Tuesday) in connection with a scandal involving £190 million -- earlier known as the Al-Qadir Trust case.

In response to NAB’s summon, Imran wrote back that he would be in Islamabad for the hearing of different cases against him.

He added that he would be able to attend the NAB headquarters in Rawalpindi at 11am after he was done with the court hearings.

The PTI chief also demanded that the inquiry report of the matter or its copy should be provided to his lawyer immediately.

A day earlier, NAB issued a call-up notice to the PTI chairman for May 23 at 10am at its Rawalpindi headquarters.

The anti-graft body summoned the former premier on May 18 too in connection with the case retitled from the ‘Al-Qadir Trust reference’ to ‘National Crime Agency £190 million scandal’ but he skipped it.

On Friday, a two-member team of NAB Lahore visited Imran’s Zaman Park residence in the city and returned after delivering the notice.

Speaking on the occasion, one of the NAB officials told the media that they had arrived to hand over the summon in connection with the £190 million scandal.

He added that Imran’s lawyers had received the notice.

On May 9, Imran was arrested in connection with the case from the premises of the Islamabad High Court by dozens of Rangers personnel, triggering countrywide protests.

However, on May 11, the Supreme Court came to his rescue, declaring that his arrest was “illegal” and ordered his release.

On May 12, the Islamabad High Court stopped the authorities from arresting the PTI chairman in any case, including undisclosed ones, filed against him anywhere in the country till May 15.

It also granted the PTI chief interim bail for two weeks in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

NAB launched an investigation against Imran, his wife Bushra Bibi and others for the alleged gain of hundreds of canals of land in the name of Al-Qadir University Trust, which reportedly caused a loss of £190 million to the national exchequer.

According to the charges, the deposed premier and others allegedly adjusted Rs50 billion -- £190 million at the time – sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the government.

They also face charges of receiving undue benefits in the form of over 458 kanals of land at Mouza Bakrala in Sohawa to set up the Al-Qadir University.

During the PTI government, Britain’s NCA seized assets worth £190 million from a property tycoon in Britain.

The agency said the assets would be passed on to the Pakistani government.

It added that the settlement with the Pakistani property tycoon was “a civil matter, and does not represent a finding of guilt”.

Later, then prime minister Imran acquired the approval of the settlement with Britain’s crime agency from his cabinet on December 3, 2019, without disclosing the details of the confidential agreement.

It was decided that the money would be submitted to the Supreme Court on behalf of the tycoon.