Foreign funding case: PTI submits no details of funds allegedly received by four employees

• PTI founding member Akbar S Babar had submitted a petition seeking the requisitioning of bank accounts of four PTI employees
• Commission adjourns hearing without announcing whether or not it would requisition the accounts from the SBP
• Babar alleges the bank accounts of the PTI employees are fronts that were used to collect donations

ISLAMABAD: The PTI did not submit any details to the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) about funds received from four employees of the party, which include a central office telephone operators. 

Read more: Imran Khan's friend offered to make me chairman Senate, says Akbar S Babar

PTI founding member Akbar S Babar had submitted a petition seeking the requisition of the accounts of four PTI employees who were authorised to receive donations from Pakistan and abroad in July 2011. 

The employees of the party were authorised by a six-member PTI finance board to receive donations. 

Sources said PTI counsel Shah Khawar admitted that they had submitted no details of funds received by the four PTI employees, including the central office telephone operator and office helper, either through cash or cheques with the record furnished with the Commission.

Babar’s counsel Badar Iqbal Chaudhry read out the PTI central finance secretary's recent statement that accepted transfer of funds to the private bank accounts of PTI employees through the money changer from the UAE.

He pointed out that the central finance secretary had yet to disown his statement, while the PTI’s written response before the scrutiny committee continued to disown its own finance secretary's admission of illegal funding.

Babar's lawyer demanded that the bank accounts of the four employees be requisitioned since it is the only way to "find out the scope of illegal funding". 

It was emphasised before the committee that without placing all the PTI bank statements within and outside Pakistan, the scrutiny process would remain incomplete and without credence, whereas hitherto not a single PTI bank statement out of the six international accounts identified and accepted by PTI, has been placed before the committee.

The committee adjourned the next hearing, without deciding whether or not it would requisition the bank accounts of the four PTI employees through the State Bank of Pakistan.

Speaking to media after the session, Babar demanded the accounts of the PTI employees be requisitioned, stating that they were used as fronts to collect donations. 

He emphasised that when the PTI central finance secretary had admitted to the existence of the front accounts and the receipt of donations, there was no reason to further delay full and unfettered investigations of these accounts.

The PTI founding member criticised the scrutiny committee, alleging that they had kept 'secret' 23 PTI bank statements and made no effort to requisition international bank accounts of the party. 

PTI rejects Akbar Babar’s claim that he was offered Senate chairman post

The PTI and Akbar S Babar have traded barbs over the past couple of days with the PTI founding member alleging that a friend of the prime minister offered to make him the Senate chairman if he dropped the foreign funding case against the party.

However, the next day, the PTI rubbished the allegations and criticised Babar. In a statement issued by the Central Media Department, the PTI had said that Babar was not offered any kind of position by the party and his claim is baseless.

"He is blackmailing the party for the last eight years and no leader of the PTI has contacted him nor made any such offer. It is an attempt by him to raise his political stature."

It further said that the offer could be Babar's wish but it is not the reality.

"A friend of Imran Khan offered me the post of chairman Senate," he said, adding that he had "rejected all offers since I am working for a noble purpose".