PTI did not disclose funding worth Rs310 million, hid bank accounts: report

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) hid 53 bank accounts and funds worth millions of rupees from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The report of an ECP scrutiny committee probing the party’s funds revealed the following details.

The committee’s report showed that the PTI had only disclosed 12 out of its 65 accounts, which are registered with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The report stated that in the years 2008/2009 and 2012/2013, the PTI disclosed funding worth Rs1.33 billion against an actual amount of Rs1.64 billion which was reflected in SBP’s bank statement. Therefore, the party did not disclose funding worth Rs310 million.

A scrutiny committee of the ECP constituted in March 2019 to audit foreign funds of the PTI had finally submitted its report to the commission on November 26, 2021, about six months after the last deadline was given.

The PTI foreign funding case continues to linger since November 2014 when it was filed by Akbar S. Babar, the party’s founding member.

In his petition, Babar alleged financial irregularities in the party’s accounts, including illegal sources of funding, concealment of bank accounts in the country and abroad, money laundering and use of private bank accounts of party employees as a front to receive illegal donations from the Middle East.