Defends Farah Khan on corruption allegations
\nISLAMABAD
\nFormer prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman (PTI) Imran Khan on Sunday claimed the National Accountability Bureau\u2019s (NAB) case against Farah Khan, a close aide of his wife Bushra Bibi, is unfounded and deemed the charges against her a \u201cpolitical vendetta\u201d against him.
\nAddressing a press conference on Sunday where he presented the white paper on corruption charges against the coalition government, the former premier defended Farah stating that \u201cshe is absolutely innocent\u201d and claiming her only \u201cfault\u201d was her close ties with his wife.
\nImran added that there was a precedent for the \u2018vendetta\u2019, comparing the situation to the case against his former wife Jemima Goldsmith for smuggling antique tiles.
\nThe ex-PM\u2019s remarks come days after the NAB authorised an inquiry against Farah Khan for accumulating \u201cillegal assets beyond known sources of income, money laundering, and maintaining various accounts in the name of businesses\u201d. The anti-graft body issued a statement saying that a huge turnover amounting to Rs847 million was found in her account during the last three years. It added that the amount did not commensurate with her stated account profile.
\n\u201cThese credits were received in her personal account and withdrawn immediately after credit within a short time period,\u201d it stated.
\nNAB noted that several \u201cadverse\u201d media reports had been found where Farah \u2014 referred to in the statement as Farhat Shahzadi (alias Farah Khan) \u2014 was alleged of \u201cbeing involved in [amassing] assets beyond legal means\u201d. The anti-graft body further said in a review of Farah\u2019s income tax returns, it was observed that her assets had \u201csignificantly increased\u201d from 2018 onwards \u201cfor unknown reasons\u201d.
\nIn response to a question regarding the charges of blasphemy filed against him and party leaders over the incident at Masjid-e-Nabwi, the PTI chairman condemned the action deeming it \u201cfoolish\u201d. The former PM stated that the behaviour of the Pakistani pilgrims was a reaction to the \u201crage\u201d felt by citizens over the ruling coalition government.
\nHe claimed that the country\u2019s leaders operated as a \u201cmafia\u201d, that \u201cbuys loyalties\u201d or resorts to pressing charges. \u201cThey [the coalition leaders] will be treated like this in any country that has Pakistanis,\u201d he furthered, adding that \u201cwe were offering our prayers at the time this incident took place, they should be ashamed of accusing us.\u201d
\nThe chairman also condemned the arrest of former interior minister Sheikh Rashid\u2019s nephew, Sheikh Rashid Shafiq earlier today at the Islamabad airport.
\nPresenting his white paper on the corruption charges against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership, Imran Khan said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is on bail alongside his son Chief Minister of Punjab Hamza Shehbaz on charges of money laundering.
\nAccusing the PML-N leaders of \u201crobbing the country for 30 years\u201d, the former PM clarified that no corruption cases were filed against the ruling coalition during the PTI\u2019s tenure.
\n\u201cAll cases of the Sharif family were established from 2008 to 2018. In our time, the NAB was an independent body,\u201d Imran said, adding that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) filed only one case against Shehbaz Sharif during the PTI\u2019s tenure, for funnelling money to his domestic staff\u2019s accounts.
\nThe former premier said that there are cases pending against PM Shehbaz with the FIA, amounting to Rs16 billion. He accused the PML-N leaders of interfering with the investigative authorities, stating that the officers and prosecutors involved in the cases have been \u201cexchanged\u201d or barred from going to court.
\n\u201cThey [the government] will destroy the records, they are only concerned about eliminating their cases of corruption,\u201d the ousted prime minister claimed. The PTI chairman revealed that apart from the Panama Papers leak, the Sharif family has hidden properties and a total of 16 cases worth Rs40 to 45 billion are pending. \u201cThese cases are just the tip of the iceberg,\u201d Imran claimed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Defends Farah Khan on corruption allegations ISLAMABAD Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman (PTI) Imran Khan on Sunday claimed the National Accountability Bureau\u2019s (NAB) case against Farah Khan, a close aide of his wife Bushra Bibi, is unfounded and deemed the charges against her a \u201cpolitical vendetta\u201d against him. Addressing a press conference on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258477,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1179,2833,360,4884],"class_list":{"0":"post-258457","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-corruption","9":"tag-imran-khan","10":"tag-shahbaz-sharif","11":"tag-white-paper"},"yoast_head":"\n