Pakistan ex-PM Khan sentenced to 14 years in jail on graft charges

A court in Pakistan handed a 14-year jail term to former prime minister Imran Khan on Friday on corruption charges relating to a previous British money-laundering investigation.

Khan, who is already in jail after being convicted of several other graft charges, was found guilty of corrupt practices and using his position as prime minister illegally, Judge Nasir Javed Rana said at a court set up inside the prison where Khan is being held.

Khan’s wife, who is also accused in the case, was given a sentence of seven years for assisting him in the crime, prosecutor Muzaffar Abbasi told reporters after the verdict.

Khan’s party said that the conviction was politically motivated and that it would challenge the verdict in a higher court, defence lawyer Faisal Chaudhry said.

Khan was accused of returning £190 million ($231 million) to a Pakistani real estate tycoon after the sum was recovered by the UK’s National Crime Agency, following the allegations that the businessman had in fact laundered the money.

The money was supposed to be given over to the Pakistani state.

In return for handing over the cash to the businessman, prosecutors alleged that Khan and his wife got a large number of commercial and residential properties through a charitable trust they had established.

Khan, who was Pakistan prime minister between 2018 and 2022, was removed by the parliament after he fell out of favour with the country’s powerful military. He has been in jail for more than a year.