Election Commission of Pakistan says Imran Khan’s PTI received ‘prohibited foreign funds’

The Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan, Sikandar Sultan Raja, on Tuesday said that former prime minister Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) received 34 “prohibited foreign donations”.

The election commission has issued a show cause notice to the party. The Financial Times, a British daily newspaper, earlier reported that Wootton Cricket Ltd, a Cayman Islands-incorporated company owned by Pakistani tycoon Arif Naqvi, and the money from charity fundraisers, such as the “Wootton T20 Cup”, was used to bankroll PTI.

According to the report, “Naqvi transferred three instalments directly to the PTI in 2013 adding up to a total of $2.12m”.

The report traced one of the sources of the funds to a UAE minister and said, “Funds poured into Wootton Cricket from companies and individuals, including at least £2mn from a United Arab Emirates government minister who is also a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family.”

The news agency got hold of internal documents, including a bank statement which covers the period between February 28 and May 30 2013 for a Wootton Cricket account in the UAE. The bank statement showed that both companies and foreign nationals, as well as citizens of Pakistan sent millions of dollars to Wootton Cricket, before the money was transferred from the account to Pakistan for the PTI.