LONDON/LYON: The General Secretariat of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) has dropped a case against Shahzad Akbar in the famous Al-Qadir Trust case, confirming that he is no longer “subject to an Interpol Notice or Diffusion”.
Interpol sources have confirmed to GEO News that Akbar, former PM Imran Khan’s accountability chief, is no longer a subject of interest and his details have been deleted from the Interpol data – case entered and registered on the request of the Pakistan Interior Ministry.
This comes a few weeks after the Interpol cleared PTI leaders Moonis Elahi in a case involving murder and financial corruption allegations and Zulfi Bukhari in the same Al-Qadir Trust case, as well as the Judicial Complex attack case.
The Al-Qadir Trust case, also known as the £190 million case, centres on allegations that former PM Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi improperly benefited from a settlement reached between Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and a private real-estate entity controlled by the country’s leading property tycoon, whereby funds returned to Pakistan by the UK’s National Crime Agency were allegedly adjusted against liabilities owed by that entity. In return, it is claimed, land was later transferred to the Al-Qadir Trust, which was established in the name of Khan and his wife.
In January last year, Khan was sentenced to 14 years in prison in the same case. His wife, Bushra, was sentenced to seven years and fined more than £2,000.
Khan’s party has argued that the land was donated to the trust for a spiritual education centre and was not used for Khan’s personal gain.
Sources shared that Akbar told Interpol through his lawyers that the cases against him were politically motivated, that the £190 million settlement was approved by the federal cabinet at the time, that the funds in question were deposited into the state treasury rather than paid to Khan personally, and that no clear evidence has been presented of personal enrichment or quid pro quo.
The case against Akbar started around two years ago when the interior ministry approached Interpol seeking a red notice and extradition of Akbar. The Case against Moonis started at the same time, based on an alleged murder conspiracy from London to Gujarat and the alleged corruption cases during the former prime minister’s government, that Moonis was behind the murder case in Gujarat after leaving Pakistan over three years ago, and made money through corrupt means when in power. Interpol’s own investigation found Moonis was not involved in corruption and had no links with the murder.
In a letter seen by Geo News, Interpol told Akbar: “We would like to inform you that the Commission carried out the appropriate checks concerning your request in accordance with its functions and that the information concerning your client provided by Pakistan, which you mentioned in your request, has been deleted from the Interpol Information System. You will find enclosed an official letter from the Interpol General Secretariat, certifying that your client is currently not subject to an Interpol notice or diffusion.”
The latest decisions by the Interpol are a validation of Pakistanis of all parties, depending on who is in opposition and not in the government, that the sitting governments persecute their opponents and run politically motivated cases against their opponents and critics.
