A day after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) denied that the party’s chairman Imran Khan owned a London flat through an offshore company, the PTI chief himself admitted that he formed an offshore company to buy the London flat in 1983 to “evade British taxes”.
Speaking to reporters at London Heathrow Airport, Imran said he formed the offshore firm on the advice of his accountant to evade taxes during his playing days to buy a flat in London.
“I was already paying 35 per cent tax on my income there, so to evade further taxes, I bought the flat through an offshore firm, which was my right as I was not a British citizen,” Imran told the reporters.
Meanwhile, PTI spokesperson Naeemul Haq also admitted that his party chief had formed a ‘legal’ offshore company through his earnings from cricket, which owned his London flat.
While speaking on a TV talk show, PTI spokesman Naeemul Haq took back his earlier denial.
“I was Imran Khan’s bank manager in London at that time, his accountants formed this company to buy the London flat,” said the PTI spokesman.
He added that when the flat was sold, Imran brought the money to Pakistan through Habib Bank.
Answering a question about Imran Khan’s tax returns and this offshore firm, Haq said he will “reveal the details to the media on Saturday after talking to Imran Khan’s accountant”.
In an interview published in a local daily a day before, Haq was quoted as saying Imran Khan himself owned the flat and it was not bought by an offshore company.
The report published in the paper stated that a ‘Benami’ offshore firm ‘Niazi Services Limited’ owned Imran Khan’s flat in South Kensington, London.
According to the paper, the offshore firm was established for ‘sporting consultancy’ and was active till 2005. The London flat was however sold on March 17, 2003.
When asked why he denied the existence of the offshore company earlier, Haq simply said he forgot.