PTI allowed paid employees to receive funds

In a significant development which is likely to have an impact on the PTI foreign funding case, a documented list has emerged of the Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf employees who were authorised to receive party donations from within and outside Pakistan.

The document, available with Dawn, reveals the names of employees. They included reportedly PTI's telephone operator (Tahir Iqbal), computer operator (Muhammad Nauman Afzal), accountant (Mohammad Arshad) and PTI's office helper (Mohammad Rafiq).

The decision to allow the PTI employees to collect the funds was taken at a meeting held on July 1, 2011. It was attended by Saifullah Niazi, the incumbent chief organiser and an aspirant of a PTI Senate ticket; Aamer Mahmud Kiani, present secretary general and former health minister who was removed from the federal cabinet; Dr Humayun Mohmand, who was recently appointed chairman of the board of directors of PIMS; Sardar Azhar Tariq Khan, the party's former finance secretary and now Pakistan's Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan; Colonel Yunus Ali Raza, and Tariq R. Sheikh.

PTI financial adviser says money received in private accounts ultimately went to party account

When contacted, PTI's central finance secretary and financial adviser Siraj Ahmad confirmed that a 'onetime' authorisation had been given to the four employees by the party's finance board, but claimed that the amount received from the United Arab Emirates through Western Union in their private accounts ultimately went to the party account.

"This was our internal letter for internal control over donation receipt from the UAE through Western Union. This was only one-time activity. The UAE laws do not allow transfer of funds directly to the party," he said.

Siraj Ahmad said all the money transferred from the UAE had been in the PTI account and this was confirmed by an independent review carried out by auditor Ahsan and Ahsan. "The auditor properly checked the bank account of authorised persons and was satisfied that all transferred amount was ultimately deposited in the PTI account," he added.