ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has decided to arrest the former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan if he refuses to appear before the federal investigation agency or respond to the notices regarding the prohibited funding case, according to a local English daily.
The investigation was launched against the PTI into the prohibited funding after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ruled that the party received illegal. After the verdict, notices were issued to senior party leaders, seeking details of bank accounts and funds received from overseas.
As per report the final decision to arrest the PTI chief could be taken after issuing three notices.
The agency will move the court to get permission to arrest Khan for obtaining the details of the party’s funds and accounts, the publication said.
The FIA issued a second notice to Khan on Friday after he refused to appear before the FIA investigation team to provide details of the party funds and accounts in response to the first notice.
It is said that five more PTI companies had been traced which were not mentioned in the reports submitted to the ECP and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
These companies are operating in the USA, Australia, Canada, Britain and Belgium, they said, adding that the FIA had collected their audit reports.
The FIA Banking Circle has repeatedly asked the PTI chief to provide details of the bank accounts but Khan, responding through his legal counsel, said he was neither answerable to the FIA nor could it compel him to provide any information, the sources said.
In a unanimous ruling on August 2, a three-member bench of the election commission said it has found that the PTI received prohibited funding.
The case was earlier referred to as the “foreign funding” case, but later the election commission accepted the PTI’s plea to refer to it as the “prohibited funding” case.
As per the 68-page order, the commission stated that the Imran Khan-led PTI did indeed receive funding from foreign companies and individuals.
The ECP verdict states that the PTI received funds from 34 individuals and 351 businesses, including companies.
