PTI Foreign Funding Case

The party received funds from 34 foreigners, which was prohibited by the constitution, the ECP ruled. The money was given to the party by the US, Australia and the United Arab Emirates all together.

In addition, he claimed that the party had received funding from a well-known American businessman.

The statement added that “13 unidentified accounts were also discovered during the investigation into the PTI funding problem,” “the party accepted money from an American business personality,” and “other information.”

The PTI allegedly produced a fraudulent affidavit on the party’s financial statements, according to the ECP. He went on to say that Imran Khan, the president of PTI, had provided the ECP with a false F1 form.

Shah Muhammad Jatoi, Nisar Ahmed Durrani and Chief Elections Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja of the ECP formed the three-person panel that delivered the judgement.

The Commission is satisfied that the defendant obtained the contributions and donations from illicit sources, states the ruling.

Truth versus might in a battle

Following the sentencing, Akbar S. Babar, a founding member of the PTI who filed the lawsuit, thanked God and his late mother for helping him win “this fight”.

“We were having trouble moving a mountain. In this case, we win the battle between force and truth.

Babar maintained that there was no benefit to him personally in this circumstance; rather, Pakistan’s politics needed to change significantly so that political parties would be subject to legal oversight.

He congratulated the ECP and emphasized the need for people to create and support government institutions.

The candidate commented: “We have experienced numerous difficulties in the last eight years, but this specific electoral commission has accepted all my arguments.

The ECP agreed that Imran’s certifications and PTI funds came from foreigners and companies, according to Babar, who reaffirmed the opinion issued by the electoral body.

He claimed that Imran Khan “used to threaten the PTI, criticize the president of the electoral commission and attack people personally” and invoked the term “fascist”.

He stated that the ECP’s decision was a step towards the elimination of the “fascist” from the PTI.

Not in this situation, foreign money

The PTI has argued that “this was not a case of overseas fundraising, this was a matter of prohibited money,” according to party leader Farrukh Habib.

He went on to comment that the people who promoted the idea that the case was about “foreign money” were extremely dissatisfied that PTI was not banned today instead of receiving a justification notice.

He concluded by saying, “We will respond appropriately to the notice.”

After Habib, Maleeka Bokhari declared in a television interview that the current media criticism of the PTI and PDM coalition parties had “lost hope”.

He claimed that although the PTI was not the type of party that accepted foreign donations, “propaganda” had circulated against it for years.

Investigative committees were established in 2018 to investigate PTI’s finances, but according to Bokhari, their results were never made public because they provided no evidence against the party. He claimed that the “largest democratic party” in Pakistan was being cornered by a constitutional institution.

She alleged that Benazir Bhutto had stated that the PML-N overthrew her administration using money from Osama Bin Laden, and requested that PDM leaders divulge their bank account details. She also questioned whether the JUI-F had received any cash from Saif al-Islam Gaddafi of Libya.

Although everything should have been done properly, it is unfortunate that these parties cannot compete constitutionally and legally with the PTI.

PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry thanked everyone who had taken part in the eight-year court battle.

“In Pakistan, only the PTI conducts successful public fundraising efforts. This is something that no other political party does. According to the former information minister

The PTI had raised approximately Rs. 3-4 billion, most of which came from Pakistanis residing outside Pakistan, he claimed, with the lawsuit related to fundraising from 2008 to 2013.

He replied, “I don’t understand why PML-N, PPP and JUI have made overseas Pakistanis their adversary when we consider them the backbone of our economy,” adding that the party would still depend on them for funding when I will ask you about this.

Donations from “prohibited sources”

Donations from “prohibited sources”
S No number of donors
1 Funds transferred from a UAE-based company (Wootton Cricket Limited) $2,151,500
2 Bristol FZ LLC Engineering Services Dubai $49,965
3 Trustees of Planet E $100,000
4 SS Marketing $1,741
5 Funds raised through donations and contributions LLC-5975 and transmitted to PTI
$1,976,500
6 PTI Canada Corporation #4451121 $279,822
7 Ms. Romita Shetty (Singapore) $13,750
8 Funds raised through donations and contributions LLC-6160 and transmitted to PTI $549,000
total dollars
$5,122,278
9 Dunpec Pty Ltd, Australia Rs 504,250
10 Anwar brothers 78,000 rupees
11 Zain Cotton Ptv Ltd Rs 10,000
12 M/s Youth Sports Rs97,500
13 Amount received in 13 accounts (11 unknown, 2 not relevant) according to PTI during 2008-2013 Rs215,787,718
14 PTI Canada Corporation #4451121 (Pakistani rupees) Rs 3,581,186
Total Rupees Rs215,787,718
15 PTI UK Registration No. 07381036 £792,265

The main points of the ECP order

1) Wootton Cricket Limited, a Cayman Islands registered company owned and operated by business tycoon Arif Masood Naqvi, owner of Abraaj Group, knowingly and intentionally made donations to PTI Pakistan. The defendant was the voluntary beneficiary of $2,121,500 in illicit funds.

2) PTI Pakistan knowingly and willfully took donations of US$49,965 from Bristol Engineering Services, an organization based in the United Arab Emirates, into its accounts in Pakistan, in contravention of Pakistani law.

SS Marketing, Manchester, a UK-based private company, and E-Planet Trustees, a Cayman Islands-registered trust company based in Zurich, Switzerland, knowingly and willfully provided gifts to PTI Pakistan. A total of US$101,741 was transferred from both entities to their accounts in Pakistan, which is prohibited and contrary to Pakistani law.

4) Through PTI USA LLC-6160 and PTI USA LLC-5975, PTI Pakistan knowingly and voluntarily accepted donations totaling US$2,525,500. PTI Pakistan violated Pakistani law when it accepted funds from both companies and transferred them to their accounts.

5) PTI Pakistan received contributions from PTI Canada Corporation and PTI UK Public Ltd totaling US$279,822 and GBP 792,265 respectively. PTI Canada Corporation also donated PKR 3,581,186 to PTI Pakistan. The donations that PTI Pakistan received from both companies were prohibited and against the law in Pakistan.

6) The Australian company Dunpec Pty Ltd and the Pakistani companies Anwar Brothers, Zain Cotton and Young Sports, who donated a total of PKR 689,750 to PTI Pakistan, did so knowingly and intentionally. PTI Pakistan obtained money from both companies, which it then deposited into their accounts, in violation of the law.

7) PTI USA LLC-6160 and PTI USA LLC-5975 conducted fundraising initiatives to raise money for PTI Pakistan, resulting in donations from 34 foreign nationals and 351 foreign-based companies. It is illegal and against Pakistani law for foreign nationals to solicit gifts or contributions from citizens and businesses of other countries.

8) PTI It has also come to light that Ms. Romita Shetty, an Indian-American businesswoman with a presence in the US, has donated money to Pakistan. The amount of US$13,750 donated by Romita Shetty falls under the ban on donations from foreign nationals and is a violation of Pakistani law.

9) PTI confirmed ownership of only eight (08) accounts in its submission to the commission, while stating that 13 accounts fell into the category of “unknown accounts” and were not PTI accounts. According to information gathered from the SBP, the PTI senior management and leadership at the central and provincial levels opened and managed each of the 13 accounts repudiated by the PTI. Three more accounts that were also handled by the party’s top leadership in this regard were not mentioned or disclosed by the PTI. By failing to disclose or hide 16 bank accounts, the PTI leadership committed a serious reporting error and violated Article 17(3) of the Pakistani Constitution.

10) The Form-I filed by the President of PTI for the financial years 2008-09 to 2012-13 (Five Years) was found to be grossly incorrect based on financial accounts this Commission obtained from SBP and other publicly available information.

Given the material on the public record and the discussion above, it follows that the issue is covered by Article 6(3) of the 2002 MOP. Therefore, the Commission orders that a notice be sent detailing the reasons why the aforementioned prohibited monies cannot be seized. be delivered to the Respondent pursuant to Rule 6 of PPR 2002. The office is also charged with initiating any subsequent legal action pursuant to this Commission directive.

There was an uptick in demand for sentencing in this important case following an explosive article in the Financial Times that revealed the financial sources of the PTI.

When the electoral commission finally announced the verdict on June 21 this year, after keeping it in abeyance for an unprecedented eight years, it was a unique case in the country’s history. The petition was delivered in November 2014 by former Information Secretary and founding member of the PTI, Akbar S. Babar.