An accountability court has reserved its verdict in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust corruption case involving former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi. The ruling is set to be announced on December 23.
The case stems from allegations that Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi received billions of rupees and large tracts of land from Bahria Town Ltd. in exchange for legalizing Rs. 50 billion returned to Pakistan by the UK during the PTI government. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed the corruption reference in December, accusing Imran Khan, currently in jail, of facilitating the illicit transfer of state funds into a private account for land payment by Bahria Town, Karachi.
NAB claims that the couple failed to provide necessary information during the investigation, acting with alleged malintent. Other accused individuals include property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain, his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, Mirza Shehzad Akbar, and Zulfi Bukhari, all of whom have been declared proclaimed offenders after evading investigations. Farhat Shahzadi, a close associate of Bushra Bibi, and Ziaul Mustafa Nasim, a legal expert with the PTI government’s Assets Recovery Unit, were also declared offenders, with their properties subsequently frozen.
Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were formally indicted in February. The prosecution concluded its arguments earlier this week, while the defense presented its reasoning on Wednesday.
