He said that new documents which his party has gathered have all the details, adding the documents also reveal that the two sons of Nawaz Sharif - Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz - along with Captain Safdar (retd), are also employees of the companies owned by Dar, which shows he is only working as a frontman of the Sharifs.
"From Switzerland, there are inflows of AED 60 million and AED 11 million. There's more money flowing in from other parts of the world which shows that they have businesses in those parts of the world as well," he said this while sharing details with the media. Moving on to Dar, he said the former finance minister has only been sent on leave and not sacked because he is involved in money laundering along with Nawaz Sharif and his family.
"Why did [Prime Minister] Shahid Khaqan Abbasi give Dar his own plane to escape from the country? It was because they all were afraid as he might end up in revealing all the truth about corruption of the Sharif family like he did in the past," he asserted. Imran also alleged that Nawaz has frontmen in multiple countries. "Hussain Sharif is frontman in Saudi Arabia, Hassan Sharif in London, Syed Shaikh in the US, Dar in Pakistan and Dubai, and Saifur Rehman in Qatar," he alleged.
By narrating Dar's lifestyle in early 80s, he said that Dar comes from a hard-working family, but his life took a new turn when he met Nawaz through Shahbaz Sharif. "From 1981 to 2002, Dar never paid income tax, which means he didn't have much money. And suddenly when Sharifs took over the Punjab government from 2008 to 2013, Dar's assets increased tremendously," he stated.
"What did he do and how did he obtain this? We don't know. There are two towers named after Dar's sons in Dubai. Each of the two towers costs Rs 10 billion. Where did the money come from?" Imran questioned. The PTI chairman then went on to question the nature of businesses that are set up that receive this much amount of money. "This is a joint venture between Sharifs and Dars, Nawaz's daughter is married to Dar's son. Dar is Nawaz Sharif's frontman," Imran claimed.
"The picture of Ishaq Dar lying on a hospital bed looking incredibly ill is a setup and they are trying to get him out of the country so their corruption is protected," Imran said. "They didn't even fire him from his position of finance minister, they let him retain it! Instead, they appointed an adviser," he said. The PTI chairman said that the LNG contract signed with Qatar hasn't been shared with the Parliament or the people. "Khaqan Abbasi said he would make the deal known in the next National Assembly session, but he didn't. He claims this is a 'confidential' deal," Imran added.
"The project has a worth of $15 billion. Why have no details of the deal been submitted or discussed?" Imran questioned. "It is the same case as Shahbaz Sharif is stressing that Orange Line Metro Train project deal should remain confidential." Khan then moved on to Nawaz's connections with Dar and stated that Hussain Sharif and Muhammad Safdar are employees of companies of Dar's son. "Employee serial number 30 is of Safdar and serial number 58 is of Hussain Sharif, we have all the proofs here," he said.
Imran not only criticised Nawaz and Dar, but also blamed Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif. "Asif says he has an Iqama and he is a legal consultant in Dubai. His contract of the company dictates he has to work seven days a week and eight hours a day, and at the same time he is also the current sitting foreign minister." Under the law, Imran stressed, Asif can't do both. "That isn't even his profession yet he takes all the salary," he said. He alleged to have account details of Khawaja Asif and said he would share them in the next press conference.
Imran also claimed that a fraud of Rs 2 billion was committed in the Multan Metro Bus project. "Where is the NAB and why is China's SECP overlooking the Multan metro case? Why is Pakistan's SECP not involved?," he questioned. Talking about the Hudaibiya Papers Mills case, he said that Shahbaz can't escape accountability as it is an open and shut case. "We are waiting for the detailed verdict of the court and then under the new evidence collected by the joint investigation team (JIT), we will file a petition," he said.
He also commented on the Supreme Court's "silence" on Nawaz's and his daughter Maryam's public statements and comments on the judiciary. "I urge the Supreme Court to take note of their behavior. The Supreme Court should either eradicate the contempt of court clause or take action," he added.
He also claimed that Nawaz Sharif is once again trying to get another national reconciliation ordinance (NRO), which, he said, will not be allowed no matter what. Imran added the reason Nawaz is "raising so much hue and cry over his ouster is that he is afraid the rest of his [ill-gotten] wealth would also be disclosed."
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017