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Federal Cabinet decides to constitute committee to investigate mishandling of Bahria Town money

ISLAMABAD: Federal Cabinet at its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Tuesday, decided to constitute a committee to investigate the mishandling of Bahria Town money that was illegally transferred to and later confiscated in the United Kingdom but was not returned to Pakistan’s national exchequer.

 

Later briefing the media persons in Islamabad along with other cabinet members Marriyum Aurangzeb, Maulana Asad Mahmood, Chaudhry Qamar Zaman Kaira, Dr. Musadiq Masood Malik, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said that this amount of Rs 50 billion had to be returned to the national exchequer but this did not happen. He said the PTI government rather securing a share in the amount provided relief to Bahria Town. He said a land of 458 kanal was also transferred by Bahria Town to Al-Qadir Trust, the trustee of which are former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi. He said Farah Gogi has also run away from the country as a land of 200 kanal was also transferred to her in Bani Gala by Bahria Town.

 

Rana Sanaullah said this is the true face of Imran Khan who directly plundered the public money by getting his share in Rs 50 billion and provided relief to Bahria Town.

 

Rana Sanaullah said Bahria Town had “illegally transferred” Rs50bn to a Pakistani national in the UK. The transfer, he said, was identified by the UK’s National Crime Agency, which subsequently informed the then PTI government of the crime.

 

Rana Sanaullah claimed that Imran Khan, the prime minister at the time, had tasked Mirza Shehzad Akbar, ex-PM’s aide on accountability, to resolve the matter. Akbar “settled” the entire case, while the Rs50bn — which was state property and belonged to the national treasury — was adjusted against Bahria Town’s liability, the interior minister alleged.

 

He said the former prime minister accepted a graft of Rs5bn as “his share” through Akbar before the case was wrapped.

 

Rana Sanaullah said the federal cabinet has formed a sub-committee to investigate the scandal and deal with it as per the law. “The case did not just end here. Bahria Town, after its Rs50bn was protected by the government, entered an agreement and allotted a 458-kanal land with an on-paper value of Rs530 million to a trust owned by Imran and his wife,” he claimed. He said that 530 million is the DC value of 458-kanal land but the real value of the land is five, seven or 10 times more then the mentioned value.

 

Bahria Town donated the land to Al-Qadir Trust, with the agreement bearing signatures of the real estate developer’s donors and Bushra Khan — the wife of former premier Imran, Rana Sanaullah alleged.

 

He said the non-profit organisation had only two trustees: Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi. He said that someone enjoys not more powers in the inherited property from his parents, which has been given to Imran Khan and Bushrab Bibi as trustees of Al-Qadir Trust.

 

The minister said that another 240 kanals were transferred to “Farah Shehzadi” (wife of Ahsan Iqbal Jameel)— commonly known as Farah — a close friend of Bushra Bibi. He said the nation’s wealth was “looted and the then-first lady signed the documents without any fear”.

 

“Why did Bahria Town transfer 458-kanal land to the Trust and 200-kanal land in Bani Gala to Farah Shehzadi,” he questioned.

 

He said the impression created by [PTI leaders] was that the land was meant for the construction of a university, but said that no charter for any varsity was approved by the Punjab Assembly. He said that some campus of university has been opened and it has been declared as university. He said that Bahria Town made the arrangements for all the visits of former PM Imran Khan to Al-Qadir University, adding that the expanses of construction on the site are also paid by Bahria Town and the money spent by Bahria Town is in billions of rupees.

 

“The cabinet has now made the document public and an inquiry will be conducted into it before the investigators proceed further,” the minister said.

 

The interior minister blamed former prime minister Imran Khan for being wrongly labelled as “Sadiq and Amin”. He accused that the documents shown by the ousted premier for approval were all passed through the cabinet without the members being informed about its details. He said that cabinet meeting chaired by former prime minister had given the approval of an agreement in a sealed envelop on 3rd December 2019. Rana Sanaullah said one woman member of the cabinet in a loud voice asked what it is in the envelop, adding that Irman Khan told her to approve the letter and you will be informed later on what is present in this letter.

 

Rana Sanaullah said that Shahzad Akbar was working as a “broker” for Imran Khan.