A local court sentenced former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to 14 years in prison on Friday in connection with a land corruption case involving the Al-Qadir Trust, according to ARY News.
His wife, Bushra Bibi, has also been sentenced to 7 years in prison.
The verdict, marking the largest financial corruption case against Khan, was issued by an anti-graft court at a prison in Rawalpindi, where Khan has been incarcerated since August 2023.
Judge Nasir Javed Rana of the anti-corruption court delivered the verdict, which had been postponed three times, most recently on January 13.
The judge delivered the verdict in a makeshift court established at Adiala Jail. In December 2023, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed charges against Imran Khan (72), his wife Bushra Bibi (50), and six others, accusing them of causing a loss of 190 million pounds (PKR 50 billion) to the national exchequer.
However, Khan and Bibi are being prosecuted, while the others, including a property tycoon, remain outside the country.
The case centers on allegations that PKR 50 billion, returned to Pakistan by the UK’s National Crime Agency as part of a settlement with a property tycoon, was misappropriated.
The couple is accused of receiving a land gift from real estate tycoon Malik Riaz in exchange for laundered money during Imran Khan’s tenure in power. Prosecutors claim Khan allowed Riaz to use the same laundered funds, totaling 190 million British pounds ($240 million), returned to Pakistan by British authorities in 2022, to pay fines imposed on him in a separate case.
The funds were reportedly diverted for the personal benefit of businessman Malik Riaz, who assisted Bibi and Khan in establishing a university. As a trustee of the Al-Qadir Trust, Bibi is accused of benefiting from the settlement, including acquiring 458 kanals of land for Al-Qadir University in Jhelum. Khan has denied any wrongdoing, maintaining since his 2023 arrest that the charges against him are part of a conspiracy by political rivals to prevent his return to office.
The cricketer-turned-politician was removed from office through a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April 2022. He had previously been convicted on charges of corruption, revealing official secrets, and violating marriage laws in three separate cases, receiving sentences of 10, 14, and seven years, respectively. Under Pakistani law, the sentences will be served concurrently, meaning he will serve the longest term.
