18/01/2025
The Al-Qadir Trust Case, the most complicated web from the Imran Khan government, has landed him a 14-year prison sentence. It is a tale of corruption and bribery that has implicated Khan, his wife, and brought Bahria Town to its knees. But what is it about?
In 2019, the UK’s National Crime Agency investigated Malik Riaz for dirty money. It ended with a £190M settlement with Riaz’s family. This money was supposed to be returned to Pakistan, as per NCA investigation rules. But this is where things get murky.
The NCA returned £140M to Pakistan, but instead of going to the federal treasury, the money was deposited in the Supreme Court's account. This is where the alarm bells started to ring. You see this was a special account of the SC created for Bahria Town.
In 2019, the NCA trial was not the only problem Bahria Town was facing. They had also been fined Rs 460 billion by the SC in a separate case for irregularities in land acquisition for their Bahria Town Karachi project. If they did not pay this, Bahria Town would default.
The money from the NCA ended up in this account. The government had somehow agreed to take the money Malik Riaz had paid, and use it to pay off another debt owed by Bahria Town.
The money he had paid to NCA, supposed to come to the national exchequer, went back to Malik Riaz.
The money from the NCA conveniently ended up covering Bahria Town's liability. But why would the government allow this? According to the case, it was all part of a deal involving kickbacks to Imran Khan’s administration.
Bahria Town allegedly "donated" 458 kanals of land to the Al-Qadir Trust—linked to Khan and his wife. Bahria Town’s liability was "adjusted," and in return, the trust received land valued at Rs 530M. The prosecution claims Khan got Rs 5 billion as a share of the deal.
It was this case for which Imran Khan was first arrested back in May 2023. During case proceedings, a bombshell revelation was made that Malik Riaz’s son bought 245 kanals of land for Farah Gogi, a
close friend of Bushra Bibi, in Bani Gala, raising further questions.
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