Barrister Ali Zafar may take a month to submit report on Jahangir Tareen, family

• Zafar investigating at least 20 bank accounts of the JKT family say sources.
• Zafar confirms it may take him a month to submit the report.
• Barrister Zafar rejects media speculation about the report.

LAHORE: Barrister Ali Zafar will take at least one month to submit the report on estranged PTI leader Jahangir Tareen and his family, as per a report in The News.

Last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan assigned Zafar the task to ascertain the facts after a group of pro-Tareen lawmakers alleged that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was victimising the former party secretary-general in the sugar scam. 

Zafar has sought more time due to the heavy workload as he needs to go through at least 20 bank accounts of the Tareen family, says the report, adding that the senator had "stumbled upon these" after being tasked with probing only a few accounts.

He will not be able to furnish a comprehensive finding till he connects all the financial dots vis-à-vis the JKT business empire, sources reveal. This, by all means, doesn’t imply that the unfolding facts might go against JKT.

Speaking to The News, Zafar confirmed it may take him one month to submit the report, rejecting media speculation about the report he was about to submit. The PTI senator said he would deliver what was expected of him.

When The News approached Special Assistant to the PM Mirza Shahzad Akbar, he didn’t attend the calls or messages in this regard.

A senior legislator in the JKT camp also confirmed that the report was expected to be published in the time already mentioned.

"It has come to my notice that certain news are doing rounds of submission of [the] report regarding JKT [Jehangir Khan Tareen]," Ali Zafar said in a tweet last week.

“This is incorrect & based on some misinformation. I have not submitted any final report so far.”

A few days before that, Tareen said a detailed explanation had been given to Ali Zafar in a meeting which he held with the group.

“I am confident the report will soon be unveiled or given directly to the prime minister," he had said outside a Lahore banking court where he had appeared for a hearing.

The former PTI secretary-general had also pointed out that no sugar inquiry was underway against him.

"There is not a single investigation against me going on relating to the sugar scandal," he had said, adding that the three FIRs registered against him were not filed in any sugar inquiry.

On this occasion, Tareen had also reposed confidence in PM Khan and slammed the Punjab government over vengeance being directed to him.

"Khan sahab is an honourable man and I believe he is just," Tareen had said. "However, the Punjab government has started carrying out a vendetta against members of my group."