Imran Khan, who used to play for Worcestershire County Cricket Club and attended the city’s Royal Grammar School, has been jailed for 14 years while his wife, Bushra Bibi, has been sentenced to seven years after being found guilty of corruption.
Khan played county cricket from 1971 to 1976 for Worcestershire and was captain of the Pakistan national cricket team throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.
The couple are accused of accepting a gift of land from a real estate tycoon in exchange for laundered money when Khan was in power.
Prosecutors say the businessman, Malik Riaz, was then allowed by Khan to pay fines that were imposed on him in another case from the same laundered money of £190 million that was returned to Pakistan by British authorities in 2022 to deposit to the national exchequer.
Khan has denied wrongdoing and insisted since his arrest in 2023 that all the charges against him are a plot by rivals to keep him from returning to office.
RECOMMENDED READING: Large cannabis grow found in Ombersley Road in Worcester
RECOMMENDED READING: West Mercia Police officer dismissed after ‘abusing power’
Khan, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament in April 2022, had previously been convicted on charges of corruption, revealing official secrets and violating marriage laws in three separate verdicts – and sentenced to 10, 14 and seven years respectively.
Under Pakistani law, he is to serve the terms concurrently — meaning, the length of the longest of the sentences.
The 72-year-old who was a World Cup winning cricketer has been in prison since August 2023.