Pakistan govt disowns 'unauthorised' accounts opened, operated by top leaders

Islamabad [Pakistan], March 25 (ANI): Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has disowned nearly a dozen of "unauthorised" bank accounts that were opened and operated by key leaders including National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman.
This comes in written replies submitted by the party to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on March 15, in response to questions raised by a report of the commission's scrutiny committee, according to Dawn newspaper.
According to the newspaper, the party disowned the 11 accounts and said a total of Rs 23.22 million was transferred to them from PTI's Central Accounts.
The party also admitted that an amount of Rs 57 million was deposited in the 11 accounts from local sources, which were never accounted for with the Central Accounts.
In its response, the party claimed that the moment it learned about the bank accounts, it initiated "an appropriate and required exercise" to ascertain whether the accounts pertained to the PTI, details of the persons who opened and operated the accounts and details and nature of all financial transactions carried out.
"Accordingly, PTI Finance Department communicated with the concerned bank, requesting bank statement(s), bank signatories, and other relevant information," the PTI said, according to Dawn.
The banks provided the information in response to the PTI's request, the reply said. It stated that the party carried out a detailed analysis and review of the information and bank statements and identified the individuals who opened the accounts.
The PTI submitted to the ECP that the 11 accounts were operated by individuals who were not authorised by the competent authority and that these were being operated without the knowledge of the party's finance department.
Others named as operators of 'unauthorised accounts" include Senior Punjab Minister Mian Mahmud-ur-Rasheed, former president of PTI Punjab late Ahsan Rasheed, former MPA from Sindh and renowned architect Samar Ali Khan, former MPA from Sindh Seema Zia, Sindh MNA Najeeb Haroon, former president of PTI Sindh Jahangir Rehman, former PTI general secretary from KP Khalid Masood and close friend and adviser of Imran Khan, late Naeemul Haq.
Yet others on the list include M. Ahsan Naveed, Syed M. Javaid, Sheikh Awais, Zafarullah Khan Khattak, Hamidul Haq, Sulman Bashir Awan, Sheikh Muhammad Hussain, Mian Muhammad Farooq, Bashir Ahmad, Muhammad Anwar, Rushna Shoaib, Farah Naz and Muhammad Saleem Khan. (ANI)