Pakistan business tycoon Tariq Shafi emerges as main 'cash boy' of Imran Khan's party in prohibited funding case

According to News International citing FIA's investigation of the prohibited funding case, Shafi is the signatory of the PTI's main account and a member of the Board of Governors of Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital.

In the money laundering cases, other businessmen also came under scrutiny. These businessmen are mostly the one who is linked with Shafi like Hamid Zaman, presently in FIA custody.

There were two FIRs that were registered against Shafi; one in Lahore and Karachi. Another business individual was a conduit for prohibited funds credited from the USA into his account which he transferred into a PTI account.

The investigation further reveal that there were as many as 52 transactions relating to PTI funding received shortly before 2013's elections where Suspicious Transaction Reports could have been generated but the banks turned a blind eye.

According to the investigation, Shafi had created a fake entity, The Insaf Trust, in order to receive the funds from Arif Naqvi, who is also the owner of Abraaj Group.

Tariq Shafi had received USD 625,000 from Wooton Cricket Limited, an offshore company set up in the Cayman Islands by Naqvi, according to The News International.

According to the investigation, in the money laundering case, the funds were first received in a dollar account of trust and then it is credited to its local currency finally, from there it goes to two media advertising agencies which were used by PTI during the election campaign of 2013. The former received Rs36m and the latter Rs25 million.

The amount received in the Trust's account is in addition to USD 575,000 which was directly transferred into Shafi's account from Wooton Cricket and he credited it into the PTI's account.

Shafi during his appearance before the FIA in Lahore claimed that he didn't know Naqvi. Asked about the funds transferred into the Trust's and his personal account from Wooton Cricket, he said he could not recall since this occurred nine years ago and sought time. The FIA recently raided his house in Karachi. He is on protective bail granted by the Sindh High Court and Lahore High Court, reported The News International.

With the disclosure of the above-mentioned funds, Naqvi's affidavit he submitted before the ECP has also been called into question.

The affidavit revealed that Arif Naqvi transferred USD 1.2 million to PTI, however, he didn't mention the USD 1.2 million he sent to Shafi, according to The News International.

In the new development in the prohibited funding case, PRTI Chairman Imran Khan and other leaders were booked on Tuesday.

The first information report (FIR) registered against the former prime minister has been lodged at the FIA's banking circle police station, Geo News reported.

Apart from Imran Khan, Sardar Azhar Tariq, Tariq Shafi, and Younis Aamir Kiani have also been named in the FIR, the report added. (ANI)