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ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan, the party’s leader, was referred to as a “abettor” in the $250 million money-laundering scam on Saturday by Minister of State for Petroleum Dr. Musadik Malik. PML-N leader Mohammad Zubair challenged Mr. Khan to “come clean” and challenge the news story in court days after a report in the British newspaper the Financial Times revealed that imprisoned Abraaj Group chief Arif Naqvi funded the P
Dr. Malik questioned, without identifying anyone, a 2018 ruling by the Supreme Court that had deemed the PTI chairman to be “honest and truthful” in a case involving his disqualification.
Arif Naqvi, the chief executive of the Abraaj Group, was indicted by US authorities in a number of instances and faces up to 291 years in prison if found guilty, according to the PML-N leader, who claimed Imran Khan was his “guarantor.” Mr. Khan was the “abettor” in a $250 million money laundering case, according to Dr. Malik.
He questioned how Imran Khan, the former prime minister, could be associated with the Abraaj scandal yet be deemed sadiq (truthful) and amin (honest). Nawaz Sharif, on either hand, was deemed permanently ineligible by the minister because he did not “take anything from the company of his son.”
A quarter of the $1.1 billion IMF tranche for Pakistan that is scheduled for release in August was lost to money-laundering schemes. He questioned how someone who encouraged and supported this illegal action could be designated as sadiq and amin.
In a further jab at Mr. Khan, he stated that despite leading a “luxurious lifestyle” in a “200-300 kanals’ property in Banigala,” Mr. Khan had no source of income.
He claimed that Arif Naqvi, who was the CEO of a foreign company, was the one who founded a cricket club abroad and transferred money to the PTI, adding that these funds were against Pakistani law.