The Federal Bureau of Investigation has accelerated its investigation into the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf prohibited funding case by summoning party leaders for questioning.
On August 11, the FIA Peshawar summoned former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser. According to the information provided in the ECP verdict, the agency required him to answer questions regarding two bank accounts he owned.
Sunday, the former speaker confirmed he had received the FIA call-up notice. He stated that we had all documentation and would present it to the FIA.
“The PTI is the only party to have disclosed all of its accounts,” said Qaiser, urging the “imported government” to stop using state institutions for political gain. He believed that the government feared Imran Khan’s popularity.
Ex-Sindh governor Imran Ismail and PTI leader Dr. Seema Zia also received notices from the FIA in Karachi. According to sources, the FIA also requested information from two private banks where the party operated four accounts that came under scrutiny after the ECP verdict. According to them, all four accounts were opened and operated in Karachi.
Ismail was summoned on August 15, while Dr. Zia received a summons notice for August 12.
According to sources, the FIA will obtain information on the companies and individuals who funded the PTI. In addition to receiving information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (S&ECP) and the Federal Board of Revenue, the FIA teams would also receive information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (S&ECP) (FBR).
The FIA requested bank records for PTI accounts from Habib Bank and Bank Islamic.
On August 11, the FIA also summoned PTI leader Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed for questioning.
The FIA began investigating three PTI employees on Friday, including Imran Khan’s personal secretary, the party’s General Manager of Finance, and another employee.
During investigations, the employees recorded their opening statements in which they stated they were unaware of who or where the funds originated.
Employee Muhammad Arshad informed the FIA that he was unaware of any sender information.
Another employee named Muhammad Rafique stated that he was unaware of the expenditures. He added that he once signed blank checks for the PTI’s finance department.
While employee Tahir Iqbal stated that the money in the accounts was paid to the party’s finance manager in cash or by check, this was not the case. He added that in addition to other accounts, the foreign funding continued to flow into the employee’s salary account.
