Imran Khan turned blind eye to corruption of his party members: Report
Aug 02, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], August 2 : In the wake of the foreign funding case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party chief Imran Khan is being accused of ignoring the alleged corruption by some of the top party leaders.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), in its verdict on the "prohibited funding" case, on Tuesday, said that PTI had received the prohibited funds and issued a show-cause notice to PTI.
The Commission found that the donations were taken from 34 countries in fundraising. These included America, Australia, and the UAE, Geo News reported. The ECP also said that the PTI had taken funds from an American businessman.
In its verdict, the ECP observed the 'unknown accounts' and said that hiding accounts are a "violation of the Constitution". The ECP has decided to issue a show-cause notice to the PTI to explain why the commission should not seize the funds it received.
Writing for The News International newspaper, Fakhar Durrani said PTI's founding member Akbar S Babar, who filed the foreign funding case in 2014, was deprived of party membership, for being the whistleblower.
He said the email exchanges between Imran Khan and Babar seen by The News reveal that after being informed about the wrongdoings of some of his top party leaders, Khan turned a blind eye to the accusations and advised Babar in an email to tell the truth in a political way to win the trust of his peers and strengthen the party.
"Despite knowing the truth about what was happening in the party, Khan ignored the alleged wrongdoings of some of the top PTI leaders and eventually sided with those who were accused of misconduct. Babar being the whistleblower was punished and deprived of party membership," he added.
The decision to announce the verdict comes after a Financial Times expose revealed that the PTI received funding from Wootton Cricket Club belonging to Abraaj founder Arif Naqvi. The funds were generated through a charity match and an Arab personality also pitched in a large sum of money.
The funds were generated through a charity match and an Arab personality also pitched in a large sum of money, reported Geo News. The FT report provided ammunition to the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), and they demanded an early announcement of the verdict.
Earlier, The Financial Times journalist Simon Clark said that those who were donating for the charity cricket matches were not aware that their money is going to PTI.
Clark said that he is investigating Arif Naqvi for the last four and a half years and has discovered that he is involved in many irregular financial activities, Geo News reported.
