| A report by the Audit Committee confirms illegal funding, account confidentiality
| It says PTI fails to disclose Rs310 million funding to ECP | Details of money received from the accounts of the telephone operator, uninstalled office assistant | Foreign aid case to help save Pakistan from destructive leadership of Pakistan: Akbar S Babar | Farrukh Habib urges ECP not to delay PPP processing, PML-N accounts
Now, PTI finds itself in hot water over ‘money route’
ISLAMABAD – The Pakistani Audit Committee Election Commission is set to investigate an international funding case against the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Tuesday to confirm irregularities in an audit report submitted by the ruling ECP.
The committee report confirmed illegal funding and the seizure of 53 accounts by PTI. The report frequently mentions its inability to obtain details of external PTI accounts as well as details of funds collected abroad. According to development sources, two auditors, Arsalan Wardak and Mohammad Sohaib were allowed to read the account details for 55 hours. . A source revealed that they were not allowed to make copies of texts and were not allowed laptops while they were studying.
“The audited documents did not include the 28 PTI bank statements requested by the State Bank of Pakistan which were kept confidential by the ECP,” sources said.
The ruling PTI has hidden millions of rands in ECP funds, a report said on Tuesday. The report also said that the PTI provided “false information” about the group’s support for ECP.
An SBP bank statement revealed that the party had received R1.64 billion in funding.
According to the report, the party did not disclose any funding of more than R310 million to the ECP. A review committee was formed in 2019 to review the external funding received by the PTI. The trial began in 2014 when the founding member of the group, Akbar S Babar, filed a lawsuit.
It should be noted that the Audit Committee did not include any details of the funds received in personal bank accounts. Four PTI Central Office employees were approved in writing by the PTI Finance Board in July 2011.
Staff includes a PTI Central Office telephone operator and an office assistant.
The approval was made with the approval of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and then PTI General Secretary Dr Arif Alvi. The audit documents did not include at least one bank statement for the six international bank accounts held and approved by PTI abroad.
Earlier, on August 27, 2020, the ECP had rejected the first report of the Audit Committee after 28/29 months of scrutiny and accused the Committee of “it was the duty and duty of the committee to verify the authenticity, honesty, and trustworthiness. of the text (s) in all submitted by both parties. It said the Committee has the authority to speak to relevant forums, sources, and individuals to verify the authenticity or otherwise of the documents.
The case has been pending since November 14, 2014. Since then, the ECP and the Inquiry Committee have heard the case more than 150 times and the PTI wants to adjourn it 54 times.
The Audit Committee set up in March 2018 to finalize the processing of PTI accounts on a monthly basis took about four years to submit its report to the ECP last December which has been shared with two parties for comment.
The ECP resumed its PTI foreign funding hearing on Tuesday after the end of nine months.
The final hearing took place on April 6, 2021, after which the ECP issued an order on April 14 ordering the applicant and founding member of the PTI Akbar S. Babar to appoint two auditors to review the documents submitted by the PTI to protect it. The ECP shared the report of the Inquiry Committee with Akbar S Babar for review and comment on the next day of the hearing set for January 18.
PTI Advocate requested that the Scrutiny Committee report be kept confidential and dismissed. Similarly, PTI also requested that all cases relating to illegal funding should be clubbed scheduled for Jan.18.
The petitioner was represented by his lawyer Syed Ahmad Hassan Shah assisted by Badar Iqbal Chaudhry while the PTI was represented by Syed Khawar Shah.
Speaking to the media outside the ECP, the applicant and PTI member Akbar S. Babar said Quaid e Azam fought and won the case to enter Pakistan. The foreign currency case is to save Pakistan from a leadership that has destroyed Pakistan.
He said if the case were heard in a timely and efficient manner, the current economic downturn and security threats to our country could have been avoided. He said it was the responsibility of all those who sat in judgment to do their job in deciding the case properly and without delay. He said political parties could only be centers of leadership if they were legally regulated. There is no shortage of competent and credible leadership in Pakistan as long as they are allowed to grow in political parties.
Earlier during the hearing, PTI leader and Minister of Information Farrukh Habib urged the Commission to complete the processing of PPP and PML-N accounts without further delay. In this regard, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja has instructed the reviewing committee to submit a report on the progress made on PPP and PML-N accounts within 10 days.
Speaking to the media after the trial, Information and Broadcasting Minister Farrukh Habib said the study of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) had hidden nine accounts in the Commission.
While sharing a report prepared by his party’s financial experts on the secret accounts of various political parties, he said the PML-N and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had kept most of their bank accounts confidential to the national election official.