After ECP’s report, PTI’s chief financial officer said all UK funds had been sent to Pakistan
LONDON: The Pakistan Review Committee Election Commission said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf did not share details of two UK accounts that sent money for PTI policies to Pakistan, but the person PTI UK finance manager said he sent every UK penny raised to Pakistan and fulfilled all legal responsibilities in UK.
Speaking to this correspondent, Muhammad Iqbal said he can confirm that all funds raised in UK have been sent to Pakistan and “we have never made any type of investment and this will also be reflected in our balance sheets filed with Companies House. ”.
Muhammad Iqbal of Stoke-on-Trent – commonly known as Mo Iqbal who made his fortune in the tile trade – was appointed to the Azad Kashmir Legislature in August last year after the PTI victory in Azad Kashmir. It is understood that Mo Iqbal was able to become a member of the AJK Assembly on the seat reserved for overseas Pakistanis on the recommendation of Prime Minister Imran Khan. Prime Minister Imran Khan ceded full control of the finances and affairs of PTI UK members to Mo Iqbal almost ten years ago and since then Mo Iqbal reports directly to Mr Khan, while keeping a low political profile .
Muhammad Iqbal said that the legal structure of PTI UK is independent from Pakistan and that “all funds raised go where donors want them to go” and “in terms of PTI membership, all funds go to PTI Pakistan ”. Former PTI leader Akbar S Babar said the ECP review panel justified all of its accusations about the questionable tens of millions of dollars of foreign funding to the PTI and corruption within it. He claimed that PTI had concealed billions of funds because they came from prohibited sources. He said that the fact that PTI did not share details of UK bank accounts with the ECP meant that its sources were impure and corrupt and that PTI had to be hiding something. The review board documented that no PTI bank accounts maintained abroad were shared with it despite repeated orders from the review board.
Foreign accounts include at least two accounts in the United States (PTI NA LLC 5975 & 6160), two at Lloyd’s Bank in Great Britain (PTI UK registration number 07381036 working at Lloyds Bank (code de sort: 309290, account: 00191424) and account number 26675768), one in Australia, one in New Zealand, one in Finland, one in Norway and others.
When asked why PTI did not share UK bank account details with ECP, Mo Iqbal said PTI’s UK accounts are “owned or controlled by PTI Pakistan”. Mo Iqbal said, “PTI UK is a legal entity established by the foreign diaspora to support PTI funds, so there is no jurisdiction for any authority in Pakistan to this entity. It would be entirely possible and legal for PTI UK not to send funds to Pakistan if it does not want to. “We operate a membership system and donations are collected and whenever possible any member’s request is met in terms of the final destination of funds. The PTI UK administrative / finance team led by myself has always focused on administration rather than political issues.
Muhammad Iqbal explained that PTI UK takes care of membership in Europe and some other countries where digital banking requires a western country. He said, “All the money goes into the account digitally, we have a strict no-cash policy. As all funds are sent to Pakistan and cannot be spent locally. Our financial accounts are prepared by an independent firm and we obey all UK rules.
Mo Iqbal, who has been in charge of PTI funds on an exclusive basis since 2012, said that in the UK he and Shahid Hussain are the “legally responsible persons” although over the years several people have served on steering committees to guide legal and accounting matters. Questions. He explained that PTI UK currently has around 4,500 paying members. Since becoming a member of the AJK Legislative Assembly, Mo Iqbal has moved to Pakistan. He is the president of an online tile retailer “Tile Mountain” based in Stoke-on-Trent. He employs over 300 people at the company and has an estimated annual turnover of over £ 60million.