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ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has said a transaction of Rs787 million was deposited and then withdrawn from an undeclared PTI account, according to a report in local English daily.
The revelation comes some three weeks after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ruled that the PTI obtained funds from prohibited sources, something which the PTI still denies.
A document, obtained by the FIA from the defunct bank reveals that the PTI had officially authorized four individuals to operate the account, according to a report in Dawn newspaper.
The list of names includes Fariduddin Ahmed, who came to prominence after the release of the Pandora Papers regarding the offshore holdings and potential tax evasion by bigwigs, released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in October of last year, the paper said.
The decision to allow these four persons to operate the account had been taken by the central finance board of the PTI, according to a notification issued on December 26, 2012, days before the account was opened. The notification carried signatures of the then-central finance secretary of the party, Sardar Azhar Tariq.
While almost all the banks shared statements and other financial details with the ECP, including foreign exchange remittances received by the PTI, the now-defunct bank in question has only now shared details with the FIA, having earlier refused to cooperate with the ECP.