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Arab News
11 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistan says evidence of money laundering by top real estate firm, founder found by FIA
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced on Wednesday that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has collected evidence of money laundering, amounting to billions of rupees, by the country's top real estate firm Bahria Town and its founder Malik Riaz Hussain. The development takes place amid a high-profile crackdown against Bahria Town. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan's anti-graft body, had earlier announced auctioning six Bahria Town properties in August. NAB said the sale aims to recover unpaid amounts from a settlement deal linked to the £190 million case involving Hussain. Hussain has spoken publicly for months about being pressured due to 'political motives' and facing financial losses. In a televised message on Wednesday, Tarar said the FIA had conducted a raid on Tuesday at the Begum Akhter Rukhsana Memorial Trust Safari Hospital, during which it recovered evidence of Bahria Town's money laundering involving Rs1.12 billion [$3.9 million]. He said Bahria Town staff members at the hospital attempted to destroy the documents when the raid was conducted, and that though some records were lost, the majority of the evidence was successfully recovered. 'The action that has been taken, this setup that they [Bahria Town] were running in the hospital, is clear proof that billions of rupees were being transferred out of the country through illegal means to damage its economy,' Tarar said. He said this amount was not sent abroad via official or banking channels, rather through hundi-hawala networks. The minister alleged that the Safari Hospital was being used as a 'front' to conceal cash and official records from authorities. Tarar alleged that a man named Khalil, who oversaw Bahria Town's operations, is currently in custody. Similarly, the minister said individuals named Imran and Qaiser were found to be operating a hundi-hawala network, with connections to Bahria Town's chief financial officer and director of finance. The information minister said the hospital's ambulance was employed to transport documents and money. He said the FIA is investigating the case, saying that the locations of several individuals who have absconded have already been identified. He urged those suspects to present themselves before the law, noting that comprehensive evidence has been collected against them. Tarar assured the residents of Bahria Town that their rights will remain protected during the course of the investigation. 'This action over money laundering is against Malik Riaz and his officials and his family members who are involved in this,' he said. Riaz or Bahria Town has so far not responded to the allegations. HUSSAIN, AL-QADIR TRUST CASE While Hussain has not explicitly named who was pressuring him or why, media and analysts widely speculate the crackdown relates to the Al-Qadir Trust case, which involves accusations former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, during his premiership from 2018-2022, were given land by Hussain as a bribe in exchange for illegal favors. In January, a court sentenced Khan to 14 years imprisonment in the Al-Qadir Trust case. In 2019, Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) said Hussain had agreed to hand over £190 million held in Britain to settle a UK investigation into whether the money was from the proceeds of crime. The agency said the assets would be passed to the government of Pakistan and the settlement with Hussain was 'a civil matter, and does not represent a finding of guilt.' The case made against Hussain and ex-PM Khan was that instead of putting the tycoon's settlement money in Pakistan's treasury, Khan's government used the money to pay fines levied by a court against Hussain for illegal acquisition of government lands at below-market value for development in Karachi. Hussain, who hasn't appeared before an anti-graft agency to submit his reply to summons issued to him, has denied any wrongdoing. Khan and his wife have also pleaded innocence. The latest development marks another escalation in the legal troubles facing Hussain, widely regarded for years as Pakistan's most influential businessman, known for close ties with political, media and military elites. On Tuesday, Hussain said in a statement on social media platform X his property empire was on the brink of collapse due to what he termed a politically motivated crackdown. He claimed Bahria Town's bank accounts had been frozen, vehicles seized and dozens of employees arrested, forcing a near shutdown of operations. 'The situation has reached a point where we are being forced to completely shut down all Bahria Town activities across Pakistan,' Hussain said. 'We apologize to the residents and stakeholders of Bahria Town.' Earlier this year in January, NAB put out a public notice cautioning people against investing in Hussain's new real estate venture to build luxury apartments in Dubai.
Arab News
17 hours ago
- Arab News
Cambodian workers flock home from Thailand after clashes
PHNOM: Hundreds of thousands of Cambodian migrant workers have returned from Thailand following deadly border clashes between the two neighbors, a labor ministry official told AFP on Wednesday. Cambodia and Thailand agreed on a ceasefire starting from Tuesday last week after five days of clashes killed at least 43 people on both sides when a long-standing dispute over contested border temples boiled over into fighting on their 800-kilometer (500-mile) boundary. Huge numbers of returning workers and their families streamed through the Ban Laem-Daung border post between Thailand's eastern Chanthaburi province and Battambang in Cambodia on Wednesday. Most were laden with belongings — suitcases, backpacks, heavy bags, blankets and electric fans — as they trudged on foot through the crossing. Cambodia's labor ministry spokesman Sun Mesa said more than 750,000 Cambodians, including children, had returned since clashes broke out on July 24. 'They feel unsafe and scared in Thailand,' he said, adding that there were reports that Cambodian migrants were attacked by 'gangsters.' There was no separate confirmation of the total of 750,000. A Thai immigration officer told AFP the official figure was 'confidential' but said 'there are many crossing back.' Thai media reports quoted the head of the Thai-Cambodia Border Trade and Tourism Association of Chanthaburi as saying more than 200,000 Cambodians had crossed back. The group said on its Facebook page that about 20,000 crossed on Tuesday and about 30,000 were expected to cross on Wednesday. A total of some 1.2 million Cambodian migrants have been living and working in Thailand, Sun Mesa said. Cambodia's defense ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata said on Wednesday the situation remained calm along the Thai border and 'our forces are on high alert.' Officials from Cambodia and Thailand began meetings in Malaysia on Monday aimed at de-escalating border tensions. Nearly 300,000 people fled their homes as the two sides battled with jets, rockets and artillery along the rural border region, marked by a ridge of hills surrounded by wild jungle and agricultural land where locals farm rubber and rice.
Arab News
19 hours ago
- Arab News
Iran executes man accused of spying for Israel and another for planning IS group sabotage
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Iran executed two men in separate cases Wednesday, accusing one of spying for Israel and another of being a member of the Daesh group, state media reported.A report by the judiciary news website Mizanonline identified the alleged spy as Rouzbeh Vadi, who was accused of relaying classified information to Israel's intelligence service, the said Vadi provided information about an Iranian nuclear scientist who was killed during Israel's June airstrikes on Iran, according to the report, which did not identifying the scientist or the time and place of Vadi's met the Mossad officers five times in Vienna, Austria, the report ambassador to France, Joshua Zarka, said in June that Israel's 12-day war on Iran included targeted strikes that killed at least 14 physicists and engineers involved with Iran's nuclear has hanged seven people for espionage during the conflict with Israel, sparking fears from activists that the government could conduct a wave of separately hanged a member of Daesh group on Wednesday after he was convicted of plotting sabotage, Mizanonline accused Mehdi Asgharzadeh of being a member of the Daesh group who participated in military training in Syria and Iraq before illegally entering Iran with a four-member team who were killed in a fight with Iranian security, the news site said Iran's Supreme Court upheld the sentences of lower courts and followed full legal procedures before executing both men, Mizanonline reported.
