On eve of Al-Qadir Trust case verdict, Defence Minister Asif renews corruption
With the verdict in PTI founder Imran Khan’s £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case to be announced tomorrow (Monday), Defence Minister Khawaja Asif renewed allegations of financial corruption against the ex-premier.
In December 2023, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed a corruption reference against Imran and seven others, including his wife, in connection with Al-Qadir University.
The case alleges that Imran and Bushra Bibi obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town for legalising Rs50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government.
An accountability court on Wednesday reserved its verdict in the case and Accountability Judge Nasir Javed Rana announced that the verdict will be announced on December 23 (Monday).
Speaking in London, Asif said that in the PTI’s four years of governance, “corruption of trillions [of rupees] took place”.
“There has been a lot of corruption in the last 75 years, but Imran Khan broke all records,” Asif alleged. “Imran and all of the people around him were involved in corruption.”
He added that when PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif was pursuing Pakistan’s atomic programme, he received multiple monetary offers from other countries, including the US, to halt the programme. “Nawaz focused on making Pakistan an atomic power,” Asif said. “If Imran were in the same position, he’d forsake the national interest and take the $5 billion for himself.”