A graft case has been registered against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief’s wife Bushra Bibi's son, Ibrahim Maneka, former Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar and six others in Lahore by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), the Express News reported on Wednesday.
According to the ACE, the accused took bribes worth millions of rupees for appointments and transfers of high-ranking officials in various government departments. Amounts received in bribes were allegedly collected and deposited in different banks by Farah Gogi.
Around Rs450 million have been recovered thus far, states ACE in its FIR.
The FIR maintains that the accused abused the powers accorded to them to appoint and transfer individuals to high-ranking posts within the government.
Maneka, Buzdar, Gogi, senior bureaucrat Tahir Khurshid, Ahmed Aziz Tarar, Saleha Saeed, Usman Muazzam and Sohail Khwaja have been named in the case. Earlier this week, Buzdar, like other PTI stalwarts including Shireen Mazari and Ali Haider Zaidi, reportedly announced that he is quitting the PTI, as well as politics, in the aftermath of May 9.
In his press conference, Buzdar condemned the vandalism witnessed on May 9 - when civil and military installations were attacked by enraged protestors - and stressed that he has always stood by the Pakistan Army and continues to do so.
The controversial former chief minister of Punjab maintained that he has always believed in politics of virtue and requested all stakeholders to set aside differences and work towards the betterment of the country.
Several other PTI leaders have renounced their positions within the beleaguered party, left it or distanced from politics altogether in the past month.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2023.
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