Imran’s offshore company was not dormant as he filed annual returns till 2014

ISLAMABAD: The latest documents of the Government of Jersey, Channel Islands, show that the PTI chief’s benaami offshore company Niazi Services Limited not only remained operational till October 1, 2015 but Imran Khan’s team also continued to file annual returns till February 2014 and paid a fee for filing returns.

The PTI in its official version claimed that Niazi Services Limited owned by Imran Khan has been dormant for long. The documents of Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC) officially obtained by The News show that the last Annual Return of Niazi Services Limited was filed on February 20, 2014.

Interestingly, Imran Khan’s team of accountants submitted the annual returns of Niazi Services Limited for the year 2013 on February 28, 2013, the JFSC documents reveal. However, the official documents of the Election Commission of Pakistan show that PTI chief Imran Khan filed his nomination papers on March 29, 2013.

The 2013 nomination papers of Imran Khan show that neither he declared his offshore company in asset statement nor mentioned his investment or capital of the company. The 2013 nomination papers show that Imran Khan even declared on oath in categorical terms that he didn’t own any company.

The JFSC’s record shows that PTI chief’s offshore company Niazi Services Limited was incorporated in Jersey, Channel Island, on May 10, 1983. A notice of Registrar was issued to the Niazi Services Limited on April 3, 1984 by JFSC.

Imran Khan purchased a flat in South Kensington, London, in 1983 which was registered with Land Registry Department of UK government on May 3, 1984. The JFSC record shows that the offshore company filed its first annual return on February 17, 1986. It received two notices from the Registrar’s office on April 24, 1987.

Interestingly, on April 2, 1987, PTI chief Imran Khan wrote an application to the then Punjab chief minister to acquire a plot and stated that he didn’t own any house or land. The plot was subsequently allotted to him.

JFSC’s record shows that the offshore company filed its annual return for the year 1987 on May 26, and June 22. Niazi Services Limited received a notice of registrar on April 25, 1988. It filed returns for the year 1988 on June 8. The offshore company received notices from the Registrar’s Office on April 28, April 29 and June 30, 1989. It filed its annual returns for the year 1989 on July 21.

Under the law, filing return every year is the basic condition to continue operations of an offshore company in Jersey, Channel Island. On January 1, 1990, Imran Khan changed the directors of the company from i)- Langtry Trustees Limited; ii)- Langtry Secretaries Limited; iii)- Langtry Consultants Limited to i)-Barclays Private Bank & Trust Limited ii)- Barclay Trust Channel Limited iii)- Barclay Trust Jersey Limited. The company’s paid capital was GBP10,000. It had 10,000 shares and all the above mentioned directors had merely three shares each.

Niazi Services Limited received notices from Registrar Office on April 26 and May 25, 1990 and annual returns were filed on June 25, 1990. Another notice was sent to the company on August 7, 1990. The offshore company filed annual returns on dates Feb 7, 1991, Feb 5, 1992, Feb 12, 1993, Jan 27, 1994, Jan 27, 1995, Feb 27, 1996, Jan 16, 1997, Feb 11, 1998, Jan 25, 1999, Jan 19, 2000, Jan 30, 2001, Feb 20, 2002 and on Feb 24, 2003 respectively.

In 2003, PTI chief sold out his flat purchased in the name of the be-naami offshore company. However, the company remained fully operational afterwards and Imran Khan continued to submit annual returns with the JFSC punctually.

The JFSC documents show that Imran Khan filed annual returns on 25 Feb 2004, 07 Feb 2005, 23 Feb 2006, 06 Feb 2007, 07 Jan 2008, 23 Feb 2009, 19 Jan 2010, 07 Feb 2011, 29 Feb 2012, 28 Feb 2013, 20 Feb 2014 for the respective years. The company was served a notice from the JFSC on June 30, 2015 and it was finally dissolved on October 1, 2015 after a final notice from the Office of Registrar for not filing annual return for the year 2015.