£190m scam case: Imran’s law minister rejects claim he gave advice

ISLAMABAD: Former federal law minister Farogh Naseem has refuted the claim made by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan that he (Farogh) had given him advice of transferring the money – £190 million —from UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Supreme Court account.The Geo News anchorperson said in his programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ on Tuesday that when contacted, the PTI government’s law minister Farogh Naseem said that no such agreement was on the agenda in the federal cabinet meeting that Imran was citing.

He said that neither the Ministry of Law and Justice had sent any such summary, nor he had told Imran that the money would get stuck in the UK if the agreement was not signed.Naseem said that Imran himself decided that the amount would be adjusted to the Supreme Court account and the law minister had not advised him.

He said that everything on the issue was on the record. Prominent lawyer on British law Barrister Rashad Aslam, while talking to anchorperson Shahzeb Khanzada, said that the NCA contacts the government concerned before striking an agreement.

He said that on the matter of 190 million British pounds, the NCA contacted the Pakistan government, and after the government’s approval the agreement was signed.He said that two agreements were signed and one – Deed of Confidentiality—was signed by the Pakistan government with the NCA pledging that the contents would not be made public. He added that the Pakistani government had given the go-ahead to sign the agreement, meaning the amount be transferred to the Supreme Court account.He said that it was the prerogative of the Pakistan government that they could have [asked NCA] to transfer the amount to any other account.

The lawyer said that under the United Nations convention, the amount was destined to land in Pakistan.