ISLAMABAD: Yunus Habib, the famous character of the Mehrangate scam, has taken a new turn by stating that he had never paid any money to Mian Nawaz Sharif or his younger brother Mian Shahbaz Sharif.
Talking to The News here on Friday, the former Mehran Bank president said when he cross-checked his statement about Sharifs from his diary, he came to know that he had not paid any amount to the Sharifs of Jati Umra but to one of his friends, who is also a Sharif, running a top restaurant in Jhelum.
The man, known for hurling allegations and then taking them back, had stated during the hearing of the Asghar Khan Case recently that he had given Rs3.5 million to PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and Rs2.5 million to Shahbaz Sharif through one Asif Jamshed.
But now when the FIA has started a probe into this shady dealing of the past, Yunus Habib has cleared the incumbent prime minister and chief minister Punjab of what he had been alleging in the past.
“It was a misunderstanding,” he said, adding that he got corrected only after he went through his diary where there was no mention of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif. “He was actually my friend Sharif, the owner of Tulip Restaurant in Jhelum, whom I paid the amount,” he said.
Yunus Habib was approached to ascertain if he had been approached by the FIA to get his statement in the Asghar Khan case scam. Habib said he had not yet been contacted by the FIA.
Habib only in 2012 had told the Supreme Court that former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and former army chief Mirza Aslam Beg had forced him to arrange Rs400 million for politicians in the name of national interest before the 1990 general elections.
Submitting his first-ever revelation before the court, the bank’s ailing former chief, who had appeared before the court in a wheelchair, tendered an unconditional apology and put himself at the mercy of the court for the forceful deed he had committed to comply with the orders of the former president of Pakistan.
“I am the victim of that national interest and apologise for whatever I did to comply with the order of the former president. Now I put myself at the mercy of this august court,” Yunus Habib had submitted in his written statement.
On the court directives, Yunus Habib had even read out his three-page written statement in the court, stating he met Mirza Aslam Beg at the residence of a senior army official and then he and Mirza Beg talked to each other frequently. Later, in March 1990, he submitted that Mirza Aslam Beg told him that President Ghulam Ishaq Khan wanted to talk to him and ordered him to arrange Rs400 million before the elections.
He further submitted that a few months later, Mirza Aslam Beg invited him to a ceremony in Karachi where he was treated like the chief guest. Yunus Habib had also provided the court a photo with his written statement in which he had been shown to be one of the persons along with the then president of Pakistan Ghulam Ishaq Khan and uniformed officers of Pakistan Army having conversation with Mirza Aslam Beg.
He had also said that Aslam Beg demanded Rs340 to Rs400 million for the election. Yunus Habib said Rs400 million were distributed among the politicians, while over Rs1 billion was utilised by different people for investment purposes.
Yunus Habib had said as the head of a nationalised bank, he had no option but to accept the president’s orders and said he was pressurised by Roedad Khan and the attorney general to get a case registered against Zardari in 1990.
Yunus Habib takes a big U-turn Says he never paid Sharifs any money in Mehrangate
ISLAMABAD: Yunus Habib, the famous character of the Mehrangate scam, has taken a new turn by stating that he had never paid any money to Mian Nawaz Sharif or his younger brother Mian Shahbaz Sharif.
Talking to The News here on Friday, the former Mehran Bank president said when he cross-checked his statement about Sharifs from his diary, he came to know that he had not paid any amount to the Sharifs of Jati Umra but to one of his friends, who is also a Sharif, running a top restaurant in Jhelum.
The man, known for hurling allegations and then taking them back, had stated during the hearing of the Asghar Khan Case recently that he had given Rs3.5 million to PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and Rs2.5 million to Shahbaz Sharif through one Asif Jamshed.
But now when the FIA has started a probe into this shady dealing of the past, Yunus Habib has cleared the incumbent prime minister and chief minister Punjab of what he had been alleging in the past.
“It was a misunderstanding,” he said, adding that he got corrected only after he went through his diary where there was no mention of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif. “He was actually my friend Sharif, the owner of Tulip Restaurant in Jhelum, whom I paid the amount,” he said.
Yunus Habib was approached to ascertain if he had been approached by the FIA to get his statement in the Asghar Khan case scam. Habib said he had not yet been contacted by the FIA.
Habib only in 2012 had told the Supreme Court that former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and former army chief Mirza Aslam Beg had forced him to arrange Rs400 million for politicians in the name of national interest before the 1990 general elections.
Submitting his first-ever revelation before the court, the bank’s ailing former chief, who had appeared before the court in a wheelchair, tendered an unconditional apology and put himself at the mercy of the court for the forceful deed he had committed to comply with the orders of the former president of Pakistan.
“I am the victim of that national interest and apologise for whatever I did to comply with the order of the former president. Now I put myself at the mercy of this august court,” Yunus Habib had submitted in his written statement.
On the court directives, Yunus Habib had even read out his three-page written statement in the court, stating he met Mirza Aslam Beg at the residence of a senior army official and then he and Mirza Beg talked to each other frequently. Later, in March 1990, he submitted that Mirza Aslam Beg told him that President Ghulam Ishaq Khan wanted to talk to him and ordered him to arrange Rs400 million before the elections.
He further submitted that a few months later, Mirza Aslam Beg invited him to a ceremony in Karachi where he was treated like the chief guest. Yunus Habib had also provided the court a photo with his written statement in which he had been shown to be one of the persons along with the then president of Pakistan Ghulam Ishaq Khan and uniformed officers of Pakistan Army having conversation with Mirza Aslam Beg.
He had also said that Aslam Beg demanded Rs340 to Rs400 million for the election. Yunus Habib said Rs400 million were distributed among the politicians, while over Rs1 billion was utilised by different people for investment purposes.
Yunus Habib had said as the head of a nationalised bank, he had no option but to accept the president’s orders and said he was pressurised by Roedad Khan and the attorney general to get a case registered against Zardari in 1990.
THENEWS.PK