Saturday, 30 July, 2022 I 30 Zil hajj, 1443 I Rs 15.00 I vol XII No 389 I 12 Pages I Karachi edition
Foreign Funding: How a cricket matcH in uk was used to Help imran kHan’s party ISLAMABAD
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staff report
HE controversy about the prohibited Foreign Funding case against Imran Khan’s PTI pending with the the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) took a new twist on Friday as a report by Financial Times has blown the lid off Pakistani tycoon Arif Naqvi’s involvement in the party’s finances and how a significant portion of its funding in 2013 was of foreign origin. According to the report, “Naqvi transferred three instalments directly to the PTI in 2013 adding up to a total of $2.12m”. At the centre of the saga is Wootton Cricket Ltd, a Cayman Islands-incorporated company owned by Naqvi, and the money from charity fundraisers, such as the “Wootton T20 Cup”, to bankroll PTI. Naqvi, the founder of the Dubaibased Abraaj Group, one of the largest private equity firms operating in emerging markets back when the PTI was campaigning for the 2013 elections, hosted the cricket tournament at his country estate in the Oxfordshire village of Wootton from 2010 to 2012, FT said. The guests were asked to pay between £2,000 and £2,500 each to attend, according to the UK publication. Quoting, Naqvi, it added that that the money went to unspecified “philanthropic causes”. “Funds poured into Wootton Cricket from companies and individuals, includ-
ing at least £2m from a United Arab Emirates government minister who is also a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family,” read the FT report. Political parties in Pakistan are not permitted to receive funding from foreign nationals and companies, but Wootton Cricket account details and emails seen by FT for the period between February 28 and May 30, 2013, reveal that both companies and foreign nationals, as well as Pakistanis, sent millions of dollars to Wootton Cricket after which funds were transferred to the PTI in Pakistan. The ECP had been probing the party’s funding since 2014, when party founder Akbar S Babar alleged major irregularities in the party’s finances, in-
shows it received $1.3m on March 14 2013 from Abraaj Investment Management Ltd, the fund management unit of Naqvi’s private equity firm, boosting the account’s previous balance of $5,431. Later the same day, $1.3m was transferred from the account directly to a PTI bank account in Pakistan. Abraaj expensed the cost to a holding company through which it controlled K-Electric, the power provider to Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city,” the FT report said. An additional $2m flowed into the Wootton Cricket account in April 2013 from a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family, according to the bank statement and a copy of the Swift transfer details seen by FT. “Naqvi then exchanged emails with a colleague about transfer-
cluding in funding from outside Pakistan. ECP has now concluded the case after seven years of trial. The date the verdict will be announced is yet to be revealed. In January, the ECP’s scrutiny committee issued a damning report in which it said the PTI received funding from foreign nationals and companies. The report said the PTI under-reported funds and hid dozens of bank accounts. Wootton Cricket was named in the report, but Naqvi had not been identified as its owner. Also, while it was previously reported that Naqvi funded Khan’s party, the ultimate source of the money was never before disclosed. “Wootton Cricket’s bank statement
COAS seeks US help for early release of IMF tranche ISLAMABAD Mian abrar
With the economic situation getting worse, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa has reached out to the US administration with a request to assistance in securing an early dispersal of a tranche of bailout package from the International Monetary Fund in an effort to stabilise the dwindling economy of Pakistan. While Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has been mostly fighting on the political front for survival of his fragile government, the COAS has taken up the job to help stop the fast depleting foreign exchange reserves. According to security sources, the army chief spoke by phone with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman earlier this week. The
sources said that during his contact with the US administration, Gen Bajwa made an appeal to the White House and the Treasury Department to push the IMF to imme-
diately supply nearly $1.2 billion that Pakistan is due to receive under a resumed loan programme. The IMF has already granted Pakistan “staff-level approval” for
the loan in question on July 13. But the transaction — part of the IMF’s $6 billion Extended Fund Facility for Pakistan — will only be processed after the multilateral lender’s executive board grants a final nod. The IMF is going into recess for the next three weeks and its board will not convene until late August. No firm date has been set for announcing the loan approval for Pakistan, according to an IMF official. For Islamabad, time is of the essence as the rupee has been plummeting against the dollar, and the country has less than $9 billion in foreign reserves left, covering under two months of import bills. According to the IMF official, there is a major difference between staff-level approval and board approval.
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ring $1.2m more to the PTI. Six days after the $2m arrived in the Wootton Cricket bank account, Naqvi transferred $1.2m from it to Pakistan in two instalments,” according to FT. The report said that Rafique Lakhani, the senior Abraaj executive responsible for managing cash flow, “wrote in an email to Naqvi that the transfers were intended for the PTI”. Naqvi and his lawyer did not respond to FT’s requests for comment on the story. WhAT DOeS KhAN hAve TO SAy AbOUT All ThIS? Imran Khan visited Wootton Place in 2012. To questions by FT, the former cricketer wrote back saying he had gone to “a fundraising event which was attended by many PTI supporters”. The FT report described the time as “critical” for Khan to collect funds ahead of the 2013 general elections due in May. According to the publication, Naqvi worked closely with other Pakistani businessmen to raise money for his campaign. Lakhani, the Abraaj executive responsible for cash flow, told Naqvi in an email that the money from UAE had arrived, to which Naqvi replied by saying that he should send “1.2 million to PTI”. After the sheikh’s money was put into the Wootton Cricket account Naqvi wrote in another email: “do not tell anyone where funds are coming from, ie who is contributing”.
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Nawaz tells Miftah off for dollar hike in PDM meeting ISLAMABAD staff report
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Chief Nawaz Sharif lambasted Finance Minister Miftah Ismail in the PDM meeting due to the ongoing economic turmoil in the country, sources said. The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) meeting was held on Thursday. According to sources, the PMLN leader Nawaz Sharif took to Miftah Ismail over the Dollar hike since the PML-N-led government took charge. Miftah had claimed that the Dollar would rise only Rs23, but apparently, Rs23 and Rs55 are the same to him, Nawaz Sharif said. Sources say that Nawaz Sharif asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to summon a meeting of all ally parties on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Finance Minister should take all allies into confidence regarding the deteriorating economic conditions, he added. The PML-N leader said that if they have to govern then they will have to be brave.
PTI’s Sibtain Khan elected Punjab Assembly speaker LAHORE staff report
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Sardar Sibtain Khan has been elected the Punjab Assembly speaker after the election for the coveted post securing ten votes more than his opponent Saiful Malook Khokhar of the PML-N. The coveted post fell vacant following the election of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as the chief minister of the province. Panel of Chairman Wasim Badozai, who presided over the provincial assembly session, announced that Khan has defeated PML-N’s Saiful Malook Khokhar by bagging 185 votes. Khokhar, who was the joint candidate of PML-N
and PPP, secured 175 votes. “Congratulations Janaab-e-Speaker Sibtain Khan,” PTI leader Raja Basharat said, adding, “Now they will proceed with the no-confidence motion against the deputy speaker. Earlier, the polling process was stopped after PML-N lawmakers raised objections on the counterfoil of the ballots and threw them towards the opposition benches. The four ballot papers have also reportedly gone missing with the Panel of Chairman Wasim Badozai summoned security personnel inside the house. The PML-N members have also surrounded the Punjab Assembly secretary and other staff conducting the election. On Thursday, the treasury lawmakers
in the provincial assembly unanimously passed a resolution proposing a contest for the vacant seat of the Punjab Assembly speaker as well as presented a no-trust motion against Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari today. The PTI has claimed that it has 186 votes in favour of its nominee Sibtain Khan, whereas the PML-N was hopeful for victory despite having 178 confirmed votes for its candidate Saiful Malook Khokhar. After the Supreme Court struck down Deputy Speaker Mazari’s contentious ruling on Punjab chief minister’s election, the PTI decided to immediately bring a no-confidence motion against the deputy speaker and remove him.
photo: zubair mahfooz