Pakistan: Imran Khan's wife Bushra Bibi may be arrested in a corruption case

Bushra Bibi, wife of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan may find herself in serious trouble soon, including being jailed in an alleged corruption case, a media report said on Saturday. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is cross-checking certain pieces of “evidence” about some financial transactions that were allegedly received, The News International newspaper reported. The anti-graft watchdog received some fresh evidence, which, if confirmed, will change Bibi’s status from a “witness” to “accused”, sources were quoted as saying by the newspaper. They added that apart from becoming an accused of the NAB, Bibi, 49, may be arrested as well. Khan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chairman was arrested in August this year after a case was filed against him for disclosing a secret diplomatic cable (cipher) sent by the country’s embassy in Washington in March last year. Meanwhile, the NAB has also accelerated its probe towards the conclusion of Khan’s alleged corruption cases - Toshakhana and the UK’s NCA (National Crime Agency) GBP 190 million, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case. According to the sources, the NAB may soon conclude these probes and decide about the filing of cases. The accountability bureau has also summoned Bibi and her close aide, Farah Shahzadi, on November 13 in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case, the Dawn newspaper reported. On Thursday, news about the alleged corruption by Shahzadi was reported by different TV channels, quoting government sources. It was claimed that Shahzadi’s declared and non-declared assets had grown by a staggering Rs 4,520 million from 2017 to 2020. “The government sources released a public report on Thursday, alleging Farah Gogi (Shahzadi) did massive corruption during the PTI government,” it was reported. The media reported that after the UK’s National Crime Agency returned the GBP 190 million to the PTI government in December 2019, Shahzadi got land measuring 240-kanal (almost 0.12 sq km) registered in her name in return for that money in July 2021. This precious land was transferred to Shahzadi allegedly as a bribe, the report said, adding in return for that bribe, the PTI government did not pursue a damages case worth Rs 460 billion against a real estate tycoon. Later, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) party’s Deputy Secretary-General Atta Tarar held a detailed press conference on Shahzadi’s alleged corruption and linked her with Khan and Bibi. The latest report leaked to the media and the follow-up press conferences on the subject by the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party are a prelude to some added problems for Khan. Khan, 71, served as prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to April 2022.