£190 million case: secret deal between Bahria Town and ex-PM revealed

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has revealed details of a secret deal worth 190 million pounds between Bahria Town Chairman Malik Riaz and former prime minister Imran Khan, involving the Al-Qadir Trust.

According to the NAB investigation report, the deal was struck at the Prime Minister’s Camp Office in Bani Gala on July 11, 2019. The meeting was arranged by Shahzad Akbar, the former special assistant to the PM on accountability, who also played a key role in facilitating the transfer of the funds from the UK to Pakistan.

The report stated that the funds were frozen by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) in connection with a property in Hyde Park, London. However, in April 2019, Manzoor Kayani, the secretary of the Assets Recovery Unit (ARU), wrote a letter to the NCA, claiming that there was no investigation in Pakistan regarding the property.

The report further stated that Shahzad Akbar took all the records of the correspondence between the ARU and the NCA with him, and did not share them with anyone including the federasl cabinet.

On December 2, 2019, Akbar hushed up a note from the cabinet regarding the approval to send the frozen funds to Malik Riaz’s family in Pakistan.

The report said that Federal Minister Zubaida Jalal objected, saying that the funds belonged to Pakistan and should be discussed openly. However, the former prime minister ignored her and decided to keep the deal a secret.

Web Desk