Khawaja Asif accuses Imran of laundering funds through his charities

SIALKOT – The Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday took aim at Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan for the latter’s failure to establish a money trail for a flat he owns in London, saying that it was now Khan’s turn to be held accountable. “We will ask for a detail of [Imran Khan’s] financial assets as to how the transaction were made and how a political party received funding from foreign countries,” Asif said while addressing a news conference in Sialkot. “During 80s, 90s, you (Imran Khan) were not an expatriate, but you never submitted your tax returns and then whitened his black money through an an amnesty scheme by submitting 1 percent of the money,” said the minister while addressing a press conference in Sialkot. “Don’t hide behind the argument that these are charity institutions. You will have to stand accountable,” said Asif. “By the time money made its way into cricket, you had begun other businesses,” he said, asking how Khan had been able to build his assets. Moving on to Panamagate and the Supreme Court’s pending ruling on the matter, Asif said: “There is no example in history of the way Nawaz Sharif was held accountable.” Demanding that Khan also be held accountable for “three generations”, especially whatever he inherited from his father, Asif said that: “We will not let him avoid accountability.” To a question, the defence minister stated that his party was not even considering the possibility of the prime minister’s disqualification by the Supreme Court, therefore no name, including his own, was under consideration for premiership in case Sharif had to step down.