Islamabad:
The former chief of the asset recovery unit (ARU) and former special assistant of the Prime Minister of Responsibility, Shehzad Akbar, was identified as a central figure in the case of 190 million pounds Sterling, according to sources of investigation. They allegedly allegedly acted as a brain behind an illegal regime that caused significant financial losses against Pakistan.
As part of the investigation, it was revealed that Akbar had signed a privacy act on November 6, 2019, before the official approval of the restructuring of the ARU and a key meeting – a move quotes as proof of bad faith.
According to the conclusions, the 190 million pounds sterling – part of a civil regulation with the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the United Kingdom – were diverted to an “designated account” in the name of the pristry registrar of the Supreme Court. The amount was initially held in the responsibility account of a large private housing company in Karachi.
The agreement was also signed by the co-accused Ziaul Mustafa Naseem. The investigators said that the funds were falsely spent as transferred to an official report from the Pakistan State, while in reality, they were redirected to benefit a private entity.
The files show that Akbar went to the United Kingdom twice in 2019 – from February 4 to 8 and again from May 22 to 26 – where he would have met the British interior secretary and the Director General of the NCA. During these meetings, he would have negotiated a secret roadmap for the repatriation of funds.
Find out more: Shahzad Akbar Pti leaves for Dubai
The officials claim that Kbar deliberately excluded the Pakistani key institutions such as the Federal Board of Return (FBR), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the State Bank of Pakistan from the decision -making process. This, according to sources, led to a substantial financial loss before the Supreme Court and diverted nearly 190 million pounds (around 50 billion rupees) from the state.
Sources also revealed that before the approval of the cabinet, the criminal product was transferred from the United Kingdom to Pakistan in late November 2019. This decision came after a high-level meeting on March 2, 2019 involving Akbar, then Prime Minister Imran Khan and the main secretary Azam Khan. The discussion would have focused on regulation with NCA and the repatriation of funds.
Akbar would have exceeded the jurisdiction of the ARU and, in coordination with the Minister of the time, hid critical facts in the cabinet. Despite the presentation of the agreement in the cabinet on December 3, 2019, he had already signed the confidential act on November 6.
According to the British authorities, the NCA had frozen approximately 120 million pounds Sterling before December 14, 2018 under the British law on the crime of 2002. Funds were seized according to suspicion against two Pakistani nationals and related investigations on assets, including Prime London property at 1 Hyde Park Place.
ARU would have concluded a regulation with the Housing Company on March 13 and 21, 2019, under request n ° 8758. Respondents offered an off -course regulation with the NCA and their legal representatives. The Supreme Court, in March 2019, inflicted heavy fines and a criminal procedure suspended conditionally linked to the case.
Investigators say that Akbar played a central role in the improper use of authority, bad faith and concealment of funds related to corruption. Consequently, legal action continues, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and other authorities conducting surveys. Akbar has since been declared a delinquent proclaimed in the case.
What is the case of 190 million pounds sterling?
The case alleys that Imran Khan and other people involved adjusted by 50 billion rupees – equivalent to 190 million pounds at the time – which was transferred by the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the United Kingdom to the Pakistani government.
As PM, Imran Khan obtained approval from the cabinet for this regulation on December 3, 2019, without disclosing confidential details of the agreement. The arrangement had stipulated that the funds would be subject to the Supreme Court.
According to NAB officials, Imran and his wife have received land of billions of rupees intended for the construction of an educational institute.
Nab filed the reference on December 1, 2023 against eight accused, including Imran and his wife. On January 6, 2024, the court said that the rest of the six accused proclaimed offenders because they were not confronted at the trial and escaped in foreign countries.
Find out more: Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi charged in the Toshakhana 2.0 affair
The court charged Imran and Bushra on February 27, 2024. The accusation presented 35 witnesses, which the defense then contrainded. The main witnesses in the case included the former main secretary of PM, Azam Khan, the former Minister of Defense Pervez Khattak and the former federal minister Zubaida Jalal.
Three different judges chaired the case at various stadiums in the trial while the final director, Mian Umar Nadeem, was counter-examined after 38 hearings. The court of responsibility provided the accused’s 15 opportunities to complete their declarations under article 342. However, no witness was presented by the defense.
