LAHORE: The ice between Imran Khan and his once close friend Jahangir Tareen appears to be breaking as the disgruntled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader on Thursday said he had been assured of a meeting with the prime minister “in a few days”.
Speaking to the reporters outside a district and sessions court in Lahore, Tareen said that he had been “contacted by some individuals from Islamabad who said that our group [of PTI parliamentarians] would have a meeting with the prime minister in a few days”.
“Our entire group will meet the prime minister soon,” said he, adding that his relationship with Imran was not “weak”.
In March, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) registered two cases against Tareen and his son Ali Tareen on charges of corporate fraud and money laundering.
The cases were registered under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating of public shareholders), and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) — with sections 3 and 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010 — on March 22.
One of the cases claims Tareen transferred Rs3.14 billion from the accounts of his JDW-Group to Faruki Pulp Mills Limited (FPML), a company said to be owned by his son and a relative. The money was then transferred to the accounts of his family members.
Likewise, the second complaint says “voluminous withdrawals amounting to at least Rs2.2 billion were fraudulently and dishonestly made through a trusted cash rider”.
Today, Tareen claimed “fake cases” had been registered against him which did not have anything to do with the FIA. “These are cases concerning the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR),” he said.
He claimed the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had also investigated his businesses during their tenure and sent notices. “But not even the PML-N turned a civil case to a criminal case,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, a local publication quoted Tareen as saying: “We have been assured that the prime minister is ready to meet us. However, [I want to make it clear that] we will only meet Imran and not a governmental committee.”
Today, he reiterated that his group will not meet any committee and will only meet the prime minister.
Tareen expressed confidence he would “definitely get justice from the court” but remained silent when asked if those who had “conspired” against him would be successful.
Speaking alongside Tareen, provincial minister Nauman Langrial said that he had called on Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar who had mentioned and praised Tareen. “The chief minister recognised Tareen’s services for the PTI,” he said.
During the proceedings today, the court extended the interim bails of Tareen and his son until May 3.
Additional District And Sessions Judge Hamid Hussain conducted the hearing during which the defense told the court that his clients are completely cooperating with the authorities.
The counsel further informed the court that the record against all the claims, made by the agency, is being provided to the probe team. At this, an FIA investigation officer (IO) said the accused has not submitted complete record.
The court returned the file to the IO after inspecting it. The judge ordered the agency to submit a complete inquiry report during the next hearing.
Tareen had returned to Pakistan in November after ending his seven-month-long self-imposed exile after falling out with Prime Minister Imran following an inquiry into the last year’s sugar scandal that accused several sugar producers — including him — of “underreported sales and fraud”.
At the time, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar had declared sugar-producing units under Tareen’s JDW-Group were found guilty of “double billing” and “over-invoicing” as well as “corporate fraud”.
Tareen had rejected the findings of the Sugar Inquiry Commission. “I am shocked at the kind of false allegations levelled against me. I have always run a clean business. All Pakistan knows I always pay full price to my growers,” he had said in a tweet.
“I DO NOT maintain 2 sets of Books. I pay all my taxes diligently. I will answer every allegation and be vindicated IA.”
