Pakistan's PTI party has been hit by an overseas fundraising scandal, local media reported on Sunday.
As per the details published in multiple Pakistani newspapers, a lawyer named Rashad Yaqoob, who is associated with PTI's London-based faction, informed reporters that the country's former prime minister asked him to raise funds for his legal battle against the government through a firm registered in the UK.
According to Yaqoob, the Human Rights Legal Aid Foundation (HRLAF) was formed on June 26 this year with the prime objective of raising the profile of Khan's legal case in foreign countries.
HRLAF was formed before Khan was sentenced to prison last month, and the donations received by the organization were to be used to pay for Khan's defense in more than 100 cases that he was fighting in Pakistani courts.
Notably, Pakistani law prohibits political parties from using foreign funds in party affairs or elections in the Islamic nation.
However, the PTI's legal arm denied the allegations, emphasizing that Khan never asked anyone to collect money to help him in his efforts to leave prison.
"Beware, no such instructions have been given by Imran Khan to any of his authorized legal team members. It is also clarified that no one has been authorized by Imran Khan to collect funds in this regard," Naeem Haider Panjotha, legal counsel of the cricketer-turned-politician, posted on X, previously Twitter.
"Therefore, it is clarified and declared that no one shall give any funding for legal battles of Imran Khan either at national level or international forums. So please avoid," he added.
The latest scandal related to PTI comes at a time when the party is facing an "existential crisis" after Khan's arrest and a widespread crackdown on the party by the present government of Pakistan.
While Khan is in jail, several high-profile politicians associated with PTI have left the party, reportedly under duress after the outgoing Shehbaz Sharif government cracked down on the ex-premier's supporters following the mass protests sparked by Khan's arrest.
Khan was arrested on May 9, leading to violent clashes in the South Asian state, which included attacks on military installations and ransacking of public and private property.