Malik Riaz’s son allegedly transferred 245 kanals of land in Bani Gala to Farhat Shahzadi for Rs 53.28 crores. What link does the transaction have with the Al Qadir case?

■ FORMER PRIME MINISTER IMRAN KHAN WAS FIRST ARRESTED IN REFERENCE TO AL QADIR TRUST CASE, WHICH HAS NOW UNRAVELED AND OVERRUN A NUMBER OF FORMER PM’S CLOSE ASSOCIATES

A bombshell revelation during the hearing of an accountability in the first week of April has opened a new avenue in the Al-qadir Trust Case that also involves property tycoon Malik Riaz, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, and his wife Bushra Bibi.

A prosecution witness claimed during their testimony that the son of property tycoon Malik Riaz, Ali Riaz Malik, bought land for Farah Shahzadi in Bani Gali. Farah Shahzadi is a known associate of former first lady Bushra Bibi and has been linked in the case as well. According to the details provided by the witness, who is a patwari of Circle Mohra Noor (Banigala), claimed that nearly 245 Kanals of land in Bani Gala had been transferred in the name of Farah Shahzadi at a declared cost of Rs 53.28 crores.

The witness came armed with fourteen mutations that showed the different phases in which the land was transferred. The words of the testimony, as reported by Dawn, said “the land measuring 100 kanals, one marla was transferred in the name of Farhat Shahzadi against the consideration of Rs25 crores and 1 lakh 25,000, while the land measuring 100 kanals, five marlas was transferred in the name of Farhat Shahzadi for the consideration of Rs 25 crore, 6 lakhs and 25000, while the land measuring 40 kanals was transferred in the name of Farhat Shahzadi for the consideration of Rs 3.2 crores.”

At the same time, the witness also clarified that there seemed to be no direct involvement of former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, since “as per record, the names of accused Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi and Bushra Imran are not mentioned there as witnesses or in any manner whatsoever”

The revelations come a few weeks after the same accountability court froze the properties of property tycoon Malik Riaz and his son.

The ongoing litigation has to do with the Al-qadir Trust case, which is the case in which former Prime Minister Imran Khan was first arrested on the 8th of May last year. Since then his legal troubles have only mounted, but a number of analysts and legal thinkers have said the Al-qadir case is the biggest legal threat he faces. What is the case about? In 2019, the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the United Kingdom agreed to a settlement worth £190 million with the family of Malik Riaz. The property tycoon’s family had been under the dirty money investigation for a few years which reached its conclusion with the settlement that was the largest ever in the history of the NCA. This money was to be repatriated back to the government of Pakistan. Instead, it was allegedly given back to Malik Riaz through a round-about way.