ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Friday described the recent court verdict in the £190 million (approximately Rs64 billion) corruption case as the “biggest graft case in Pakistan’s political history.”
He said the decision exposed the “real face” of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his spouse.
Speaking at a press conference, Iqbal said the case marks a historic conviction based on clear documentary evidence presented during the court trial. He accused the PTI founder of exploiting public trust under the guise of a justice movement while engaging in large-scale corruption during his tenure in power.
Iqbal explained that the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) had recovered £190 million laundered by a prominent property tycoon, Malik Riaz. The recovered amount, which was supposed to be deposited into Pakistan’s national treasury, was instead used by the PTI government to settle a Supreme Court-imposed fine on Bahria Town for illegal land occupation.
He further alleged that the PTI founder and his spouse received land and jewelry in return for facilitating this transaction, converting the laundered funds into white money. “This is a clear case of looted money being misused, and to cover it up, a façade of charity work was created by establishing a university,” he said.
Highlighting further allegations, Iqbal cited a report by The Financial Times that accused the PTI founder of misusing Shaukat Khanum hospital’s charity funds for election campaigning. He pointed out that the PTI has yet to deny or challenge this report, calling it an implicit acceptance of the claim.
In contrast, he compared the case to a defamatory article published by Daily Mail against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the behest of the PTI government, which was later dismissed in a UK court.
Iqbal lamented the missed opportunities resulting from the alleged corruption. He claimed that the recovered amount could have funded the establishment of six internationally recognized universities, thousands of schools, and hundreds of medical dispensaries, as well as provided scholarships for thousands of students.
“This is not just a case of political corruption but a betrayal of the nation’s trust,” he said, adding that the verdict has exposed PTI’s claims of accountability and transparency as hollow.
The minister concluded by emphasizing the government’s commitment to pursuing legal action against those responsible for such large-scale corruption.
