Top Pak officials named in Pandora Leaks, PM Imran Khan promises thorough investigation

Pakistan’s renowned media moguls, Army personnel’s relatives, top business and political figures, as well as Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) government officials, have made it on the record in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) “Pandora Papers”  that revealed tax evasion and financial records of prominent wealthy elites worldwide. 

The 2.94 terabyte data trove showed that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s key allies had successfully managed to bypass tax authorities despite his promises of ‘New Pakistan’ and his claims in the Islamabad press: “We will establish the supremacy of the law.” Pak’s leader has earlier made remarks, stating, whoever violates “the law” in his country, he would “act against them.” 

Now, the members of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government, his party’s donors, and allies are reported to have funnelled millions of dollars to the offshore companies in the explosive ICIJ investigative data that has also exposed other elites from more than 200 countries. Prominent figures from the Imran Khan government, including Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin and Senator Faisal Vawda, Water Resources Minister Moonis Elahi, and more than 700 other Pakistani citizens, all linked to the high-ranking officials who are donors to Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party have been listed in Pandora papers, Dawn reported.

Pakistan’s PM says will establish 'investigative cell', Opposition calls it 'hoax'

The investigation based on 11.9 million confidential files that were leaked by the 14 offshore financial services firms, as per the reports, has over 700 figures, many of whom connected with Pakistan’s Imran Khan’s government, Islamabad’s Dawn reported, citing The News International reporters. 

Meanwhile, just a day ago, Pakistan’s PM Imran Khan announced that he will establish an investigation agency to probe the names of all those involved in the records. But Pakistan’s opposition party lambasted the ruling PM, calling his investigation cell "a hoax", Dawn reported.

Pakistan’s military is the “largest conglomerate of business entities in Pakistan, besides being the country’s biggest urban real estate developer and manager, with wide-ranging involvement in the construction of public projects”, according to a 2021 United Nations report. And several names linked to it have come up in the ICIJ leak, including 5 high-profile military officials, a former air force chief, and two lieutenant-generals in the army linked to offshore investments, Al Jazeera reported.