Faisal Vawda Alleges that Former Spymaster Faiz Hamid is the 'Mastermind' behind the £190 million settlement case.

 

• Vawda does not attribute responsibility for this case to any "important business personality."

 • "A sealed envelope was presented to the participants of the cabinet meeting."

 • Former PTI lead claims that President Arif Alvi has achieved what the adversaries could not.

 

Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda made a noteworthy claim on Wednesday, asserting that retired Lt-Gen Faiz Hamid, the former director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was the mastermind and primary beneficiary in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case. Vawda, who was previously a close associate of former prime minister and PTI chairman Imran Khan, disclosed that he was a member of the federal cabinet when the £190 million transaction took place. He emphasized that he was the first minister to raise concerns about the issue and predicted that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) would file a case related to it.

Providing further details, the former minister explained that during a cabinet meeting, a sealed envelope was presented to the participants, and the matter was hastily concluded. He also highlighted that the "closed envelope" was not part of the meeting's agenda. Although he refrained from naming the real estate tycoon involved, Vawda stated that he does not hold any "important business personality" responsible for the case.

It is worth mentioning that former Prime Minister Imran Khan, along with his wife Bushra Bibi and other PTI leaders, is currently under a NAB inquiry regarding a settlement made between the previous PTI government and the aforementioned property tycoon, which reportedly caused a loss of £190 million to the national exchequer. According to the charges, the PTI chief and other accused individuals allegedly misappropriated £190 million (equivalent to Rs50 billion at that time) sent by Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Pakistani government as part of the agreement with the property tycoon. Additionally, they are accused of gaining undue benefits through the allocation of over 458 kanals of land at Mouza Bakrala, Sohawa, for the establishment of Al-Qadir University.

During the PTI government's tenure, the NCA seized assets worth £190 million from the British property tycoon. The agency clarified that the assets would be handed over to the Pakistani government and stated that the settlement with the property tycoon was a civil matter and did not indicate a finding of guilt.

Subsequently, on December 3, 2019, then Prime Minister Khan obtained the cabinet's approval for the settlement with the UK crime agency without disclosing the confidential agreement's details. It was decided that the money would be submitted to the Supreme Court on behalf of the tycoon. Following the cabinet's approval, Al-Qadir Trust was established in Islamabad a few weeks later. Two to three months after the cabinet's decision, the property tycoon transferred 458 canals of land to Zulfi Bukhari, a close aide of the PTI chief, who later transferred it to the trust.