By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s anti-graft watchdog has launched extradition proceedings against property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain and his son Ali Malik from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), invoking international anti-money laundering laws and the Vienna Convention, Dawn newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Hussain, who leads Bahria Town Limited – claimed to be Asia’s largest private real estate developer – and is one of Pakistan’s wealthiest individuals, has been residing in Dubai. Since 1997, through Bahria Town, Hussain has developed extensive housing estates around Pakistan’s major cities, appealing to the burgeoning middle class.
Recently, he launched a new headquarters for BT Properties, a subsidiary targeting the Dubai real estate market.
The wealthy real estate tycoon is accused by the country’s National Accountability Bureau of orchestrating a massive land scam alongside former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
In 2019, Hussain surrendered unaccounted £190 million held in the UK to the National Crime Agency (NCA), resolving an investigation without admitting guilt. The sum was repatriated to the Pakistan government, but the then government of jailed Khan allowed Hussain to use the amount to pay a court fine in a different case in Pakistan in exchange for the illegal land transfer to Khan and his wife’s managed Al Qadir Trust.
The anti-graft watchdog alleged that Khan, as prime minister from August 2018 to April 2022, made a quid pro quo deal with Hussain, enabling him to receive more than $239 million in government money.
The NAB said Khan’s government gave legal cover to Hussain’s deal.
Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and his wife were convicted by an accountability court earlier this month in the Al Qadir Trust case, with Khan receiving a 14-year sentence and Bushra Bibi a seven-year sentence, along with heavy fines.
Hussain is largely believed to be untouchable because of his close connections with the military and political elite in the country.
Analysts see this as a significant blow to Hussain, signaling that Pakistan’s military and government aim to warn other influential allies of Khan, who was ousted from power in 2022 but retains considerable public support.
Dawn newspaper, quoting a senior NAB official, dismissed claims by the PTI party that Riaz had not been implicated in corruption by UK authorities in the 190 million pound case.
The official cited a November 2021 ruling by the UK’s Royal Court of Justice, which upheld the UK Home Office’s decision to cancel Hussain’s visa due to his involvement in corruption and financial/commercial misconduct linked to Bahria Town.
“While rejecting the appeal, the UK court judgment notes that the conclusion of the Home Office that Mr. Riaz (Hussain) and his son have been involved with corruption and financial/commercial misconduct was founded on their involvement in the affairs of Bahria Town – a company owned and run by the appellants’ family and described as the largest property developer in Asia,” the newspaper reported.
“The source said that the UK Home Office canceled the visa of Mr. Riaz (Hussain) and his son after reviewing the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) investigation and settlement with Mr. Riaz (Hussain) in 2019, Supreme Court judgments in Bahria Town cases; JIT’s report on money deposited by Bahria Town into fake accounts and a NAB reference filed in April 2019 against Bahria Town.”
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
