Sunday, 7 August, 2022 I 8 Muharram, 1444 I rs 15.00 I Vol XIII no 38 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
PROHIBITED FUNDING CASE
FIA opens probe; summons vArIous pTI leAders, workers
PEShaWar
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HE Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Saturday kickstarted its countrywide investigation — launched a day earlier — into the utilisation of funds from “prohibited” sources by PTI after an Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ruling that the party secured illegal donations. A total of six inquiries have been opened simultaneously in major cities of Pakistan, including federal capital Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi. According to FIA authorities, 13 accounts have been identified in which these funds were transferred, and the agency has issued notices to the banks under which these accounts have been operating. Courts have also directed these banks to submit complete details of these bank accounts to the FIA in order to help the inquiry teams with the investigation.
The probe was launched on a letter written by PTI founding member Akbar S Babar, requesting an investigation against the PTI for receiving funds through accounts opened in the name of junior employees. FIA SuMMonS PTI lEAdErS, EMPloyEES: The investigation agency also summoned former National Assembly speaker and senior PTI leader Asad Qaiser and Punjab Minister Mian Mahmood-ur-Rashid along with others. A day earlier, the FIA had called four employees of the PTI secretariat to investigate the money laundering and embezzlement in these funds, and statements of these employees were recorded. Confirming that he has received a notice from FIA, Asad Qaiser wrote on Twitter: “I want to tell the imported government that we are not afraid of such filthy tricks.” “The imported government should avoid using the national institutions for taking political revenge,” he said, advising them to sow as much as they can bear later.
FIA Peshawar’s office has summoned Qaiser on August 11 (Thursday) at 2pm. The notice sent to the former speaker stated that as per the verdict on Akbar S Babar’s case, Qaiser has two bank accounts and he is associated with the functioning of those two accounts; therefore he has been asked to appear before the inquiry team to answer questions regarding the details of the bank account. According to sources, FIA has formed five investigation committees comprising of three members each in different cities, while a committee has been set up at the headquarters for coordination. Sources further added that the committees will proceed with the investigation in line with the directions of the ECP; the terms of reference (TOR) have been issued in this regard. FIA Director-General Mohsin Butt is overseeing all investigations. In Karachi, the FIA has formed a five-member team headed by Deputy Director Bank Circle Rabia Qureshi comprising Assistant Director Rauf Sheikh, Inspectors Sabeen Ghauri, Aftab Watoo, and Sub Inspector Rahat Khan. The committee has been directed to investigate funding companies, individual bank accounts, and all other monetary details, which are to be later shared with the central committee formed in the headquarters. The FIA launched the investigation on a letter written by Babar, requesting a probe against the PTI for receiving funds through accounts opened in the name of junior employees. Akbar S Babar formally approached the FIA to initiate a probe against the PTI on Wednesday. Babar told the FIA that the PTI’s financial board in 2011 illegally authorised four employees of the party’s central secretariat to collect donations in their personal accounts from within Pakistan and abroad.
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PM seeks donations for flood relief fund iSLaMaBaD staff report
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday set up a relief fund for people affected by the nationwide flash floods and appealed to the philanthropists and well-off segments of society to support the victims. The prime minister said the
nation set a global precedent by making donations during the 2005 earthquake and 2010 floods to support the affectees. He stressed there was a need of showing a suck-like spirit. The prime minister observed the historic rainfall triggered a massive catastrophe which hit Balochistan, leaving a trail of unmatched destruction.
Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab were also hit, he said, adding that despite the troubling economic situation, the government released Rs5 billion for the people desperate for food and clean water. Sharif, while making an appeal to the wealthy, said they should support the government’s efforts in the rehabilitation of the
affectees. The affected brethren required support with rekindling passion like one exhibited by the Ansar of Medina. The government has declared an emergency situation in the flood-hit areas. The provincial governments have also been called on to declare affected areas as calamity-hit so that relief efforts could be expedited.
Saved country from imminent default: Miftah Karachi app
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail said that the federal government had made tough decisions and saved the country from going default. He further said that the country was experiencing an incredible challenging environment. He stated this while talking to media persons during his visit to Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) here on Saturday. The federal minister said that he was never willing to go to International Monetary Fund (IMF) for loan but the circumstances compelled him to do so. Miftah added that we were giving petrol subsidy of $500 million and did not export anything. In addition the minister said that Pakistan had been close to default when the PML-N-led government came into power which is why he approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) days after becoming the finance minister. Finance Minister Miftah Ismail clarified that neither the State Bank of Pakistan nor he had “directly intervened” to bring the dollar’s value down, stating that it was influenced by market factors. The rupee has been on an upward trend against the dollar in the interbank market, gaining Rs16.26 since July 29. During his address, Ismail also doubled down on the government’s decision to curtail imports for the next three months, stating that it was a necessity. “We have imposed a ban on CPU cars, mobile phones and home appliances which we will not remove till September. The restrictions on [import of items with H S Codes starting with] 84 and 85 are with reason,” he said. However, the minister said authorities were working on identifying items used by exporters for manufacturing products and their import would not be stopped. He assured that the government had not stopped payments on any letters of credit that had been opened in the past and would not do so in the future as well. The minister noted that the country’s imports last year stood at $80 billion while its exports were a mere $31bn. The country’s current account deficit was $17.5bn while the trade deficit, after subtracting the remittances, stood at $18bn, he said. “If you create such a wide deficit, there will be pressure on your rupee. Today, Bangladesh has increased the price of petrol to 308 (per litre). They are also under pressure. There is a very challenging environment globally.”
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PTI used foreign funding to sabotage democracy, CPEC: Marriyum iSLaMaBaD staff report
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Saturday fired a broadside on Imran Khan for trying to sabotage democracy, China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and national economy through the foreign funding the party received over the past decade. “A conspiracy project, launched by Imran Khan, was executed in the country through the foreign funds received by his party during different periods including 2008-13,2013-18 and 201822,” she said while addressing a news conference along with Coordinator to the Prime Minister for Economy and Energy Bilal Azhar Kayani. She said, Imran Khan tried to weaken the parliamentary system and democracy in 2013 under the project which came into effect in 2008. He incited his workers to attack the Supreme Court’s building, launched a civil obedience campaign, and made
attempts to halt the CPEC by bringing political stability in the country. “These were the milestones, delivery points and commitments which Imran Khan made to his funders in exchange of the foreign funding,” she said, adding the followers of the PTI’s chief would have to ask from him where this funding was spent. She said Imran Khan asserted that he made a blunder by approving the appointment of Sikander Sultan Raja as the chief election commissioner, but in reality, the major mistake was committed when Nawaz Sharif was ousted from his office for not taking salary from his son. Marriyum said it was unfair to compare Imran Khan with Nawaz Sharif who, as prime minister, eliminated terrorism, ensured 6 per cent economic growth, created massive employment opportunities for youth and above all, improved the country’s standing at the International level. She said the nation needed to look into the reasons behind the “Imran proj-
ect” under which Kashmir was sold, CPEC projects stopped and the country registered negative economic growth. Imran Khan, during his government, rendered the youth jobless, created anarchy and political instability and imprisoned the media persons, she added. The people had to understand that Imran Khan was responsible for the current crises which were created to fulfill the commitments made with the foreign fosters. She said the so-called truthful and honest Imran Khan had miserably exposed before the nation after the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) verdict in the PTI’s prohibited funding case. “The party of a foreign agent has been declared a “foreign-aided party” under the Political Party Ordinance, 2002 and the Election Act, 2017,” she remarked. The minister said Imran Khan was trying to mislead the nation by consistently telling lies over a case that was investigated by the ECP for eight years.
The PTI sought 51 adjournments, changed nine lawyers, and filed 11 petitions with the court seeking delay in the announcement of the decision and an order to refrain the ECP from making foreign funding details public. She said the PTI chairman had
“knowingly” and “willfully” received prohibited funding from a number of foreign firms and individuals, which he acknowledged by himself by submitting false affidavits in the ECP five times.
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