Islamabad, Jan 17 (Representative) Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi, on Friday were convicted in a £190m graft case, media reports said.While Imran was sentenced to 14 years in prison, a seven-year jail term was handed to his wife in the Al-Qadir University Trust case. The prosecution alleged that the couple obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town Ltd for legalising Rs50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the United Kingdom during the previous PTI government, in which Imran was the PM.Judge Nasir Javed Rana announced the verdict in a makeshift courtroom at Adiala Jail, Dawn reported.The court also imposed fines on Imran and Bushra, amounting to Rs 1million and Rs 500,000, respectively. Failure to pay the fines would result in additional six months in jail.The verdict was announced amid tight security outside Adiala Jail, following which Bushra was arrested from the courtroom. The couple was indicted in the case on Feb 27, 2024, shortly after the general elections.Imran was incarcerated in August 2023 in a series of legal cases, which he claims were “politically motivated”. Last year, he was acquitted in the cipher and Iddat cases but was newly charged in the Toshakhana 2 case.In December 2023, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a corruption reference against Imran and seven others, including his wife, in connection with the Al-Qadir University Trust, the Dawn reported.
The prosecution alleged that a trust was established only after a £190m adjustment, raising questions about its legitimacy and purpose.The reference filed by NAB alleged that Imran, who is currently in jail, played a “pivotal role in the illicit transfer of funds meant for the state of Pakistan into an account designated for the payment of land by Bahria Town, Karachi.”Property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain and his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, Mirza Shehzad Akbar, and Zulfi Bukhari are also among the suspects in this reference, but instead of joining the investigation and subsequent court proceedings, they absconded and were subsequently declared proclaimed offenders (PO).According to reports, Farhat Shahzadi, a close friend of Imran’s spouse, and Ziaul Mustafa Nasim, a legal expert for the PTI government’s Assets Recovery Unit, were also declared POs. Subsequently, the properties of all six accused had been frozen.As per the reference, Riaz’s son transferred 240 kanals of land to Shahzadi, while Bukhari received land under a trust, which NAB argued did not exist at the time of the transfer.He said when he enquired about the document, Akbar said that it was an agreement of the Pakistani government with the UK’s National Crime Agency for the refund of crime proceeds.Days later, Azam Khan, Imran’s then-principal secretary, also testified that Akbar brought a note to seek the ex-PM’s approval to present the confidential deed in the cabinet meeting, the report said.Zubaida Jalal, the minister of defence production in the PTI-led government, testified before a court that ministers were “kept in the dark” on the transfer of “crime proceeds” to Malik Riaz.