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ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Asif Ali Zardari and his wife Bushra Bibi were arrested on Wednesday in a fraud case filed at Islamabad’s Kohsar Police Station for creating “fake receipts” when selling official items.
The case was filed against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman, Bushra Bibi, Shahzad Akbar, Zulfi Bukhari, and Farah Gogi under the charges of fraudulent receipt and cheating.
The accused, according to the FIR, provided phony receipts for buying and selling Toshakhana gifts and illegally utilized his forged signature for the claimed transaction.
The complainant, a local watch dealer, claims that the investigation revealed that the accused had generated phony receipts in his name on a fictitious letterhead of his shop which was used to sell Toshakhana gifts.
“The accused attempted to harm my business’s reputation by creating fake invoices for Toshakhana gifts,” he stated in the FIR.
Toshakhana reference
The reference, which charges that the former Prime Minister failed to divulge information about the gifts he received from the Toshaskhana (during his tenure as Prime Minister), was submitted by ruling coalition lawmakers last year.
After the Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified PTI chief for making “false statements and incorrect declarations” last month, the Toshakhana issue became a major sticking point in national politics.
The former premier was also found to have engaged in corrupt acts under sections 167 and 173 of the constitution, according to the ruling. “A criminal investigation will be launched against him for making a false statement.”
“His disqualification under Article 63, 1(P) has been for his current parliament membership,” the ECP stated in its 36-page full reference verdict.
“The funds in his bank account were roughly half the value of the state gifts.” “Imran Khan was required to declare the cash and bank details in his returns, but he did not,” the ECP ruling stated.
“Khan has been declared disqualified and removed from his National Assembly seat,” the ECP said, adding that “he has been disqualified under Article 63, 1(P) for submitting a false statement and declaration.”
Following this, on March 9, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) opened an investigation into the former prime minister in the Toshakhana case.
