• FIA has decided to initiate legal action against Shaukat Tarin
• FIA has completed investigation into the audio calls leak case
• FIA sought permission from the interior ministry to arrest him

ISLAMABAD: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has decided to initiate legal action against former finance minister and PTI Senator Shaukat Tarin in the audio call leak case.

The matter pertains to Tarin’s alleged leaked audio call in which he asked the finance ministers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab to write a letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to pressurize the coalition government over the economic situation.

According to reports, the federal agency has completed its investigation into the case and decided to initiate legal action against the former finance minister for his alleged attempt to disrupt the IMF loan programme.

The FIA concluded that Tarin sought to damage national interest and security. It said the conversation was meant to harm the IMF deal. The agency has sought approval from the Interior Ministry to arrest the renowned banked and finance czar

The audio leak was sent to the FIA for investigation by the government for investigation. FIA had summoned Shaukat Tarin for investigation in the audio leaks.

In September last year, FIA Cybercrime Wing Islamabad formally launched an inquiry and quizzed him. Tarin said that tapping into private phone calls is illegal.

The controversy surfaced August last year when two audio clips surfaced in which Tarin can be heard asking then Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finance minister Taimur Jhagra and Punjab finance minister Mohsin Leghari to backtrack from IMF commitments.

In the phone call, Tarin can be heard apparently asking the finance ministers of both provinces to back track from the commitment of provincial bugdet surplus, citing the devastating floods.

Tarin can be heard asking then KP finance minister Taimoor Jhagra if he had written the letter on which the latter responded saying he will send the letter soon after drafting it.

Tarin then told KP finance minister to highlight flood devastation in the letter. He was told to seek release of funds for the restoration of infrastructure and rehabilitation of flood victims.

In another call, Tarin can be heard asking Punjab financial minister to backtrack from the Rs750 billion budget surplus and tell the global financial institution that the commitment made was before the floods wreaked havoc.

Tarin told the finance minister to draft a letter and send it to him for vetting so it could be sent to the federal government and to the IMF representative in Pakistan.

He further said that federal government is sending PTI leaders to jail and filing terrorism case. Tarin said that this could not go on further and the party could not bear being mistreated and blackmailed by the government.

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