Imran submits money trail of Bani Gala estate to SC

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  • Rs 38.4m transferred by Jemima in shape of US dollars, pound sterling to her ex-husband’s manager
  • Imran claims no tax applicable to earnings made abroad, neither necessary to show them in Pakistan

In a disqualification case, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has submitted additional documents of the money trail of his Bani Gala, a 300kanal estate located in Islamabad on the eastern bank of Rawal Lake, to the Supreme Court of Pakistan here on Thursday.

The documents were submitted in the case currently underway against him and his party’s Jehangir Tareen over a petition filed by senior PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi where he has alleged both of concealing assets and offshore companies in their nomination papers filed to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

According to the documents, a total of Rs 38.4 million were transferred by Jemima Khan to Imran Khan’s financial manager Rashid Khan in various installments. A total of seven transactions were made between Jemima and the manager, the first tranche was of 258,333 dollars, second of 275,678 dollars, the third one of 20,000 pounds, the fourth one of 16,000 dollars, the fifth and sixth tranche of 5,000 dollars and the last one of 100,000 dollars.

The Civil Miscellaneous Application (CMA) charts out the entire transactions detail that took place from Jemima’s account to Rashid’s US dollars account number 9010327943 and US dollars amount converted to rupees through account number 552158814 in the Cities Bank of Islamabad. Also, it gives details of the dates when the amount was converted into the rupees and whether they were converted as whole or in parts.

In a written statement attached to the documents, Imran said that he personally has given the advance of the Bani Gala estate in person and the amount paid was shown in the 2002 nomination papers. He claimed that no tax was applicable to earnings made abroad and neither was it necessary to show them in Pakistan.

On previous hearings, PTI’s counsel Naeem Bukhari admitted that failure of his client to show the Niazi Services Limited, an offshore company, in his nomination paper was an ‘honest’ mistake due to negligence. “The ‘mistake’ was not made consciously or with a dishonest intent,” he told the court during a hearing in May.

It is pertinent to mention here that the bench had told the PTI’s counsel to furnish a reply to important questions, adding that they have to prove that Imran Khan took loan from Jemima Khan. In May, Abbasi’s counsel pointed out a number of missing links in establishing the money trail regarding the purchase of the Bani Gala land by Imran in 2002.

The counsel questioned Imran’s statements regarding the purchase of the said property, as the PTI chairman had said he had sold his London apartment to pay for the Bani Gala property. The counsel said that Imran had purchased the Bani Gala property before he sold the London apartment on March 14, 2003.

The PML-N stated that Imran signed the sale agreement with initial down payment of Rs6.8 million on March 3, 2002. The Bani Gala land was worth Rs40.35 million. Till January 23, 2003, he paid the rest of the amount in instalments.