ISLAMABAD: According to a source familiar with the situation, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has begun the process of extraditing property tycoon Malik Riaz and his son Ali Malik from the United Arab Emirates, Dawn was informed.
According to a NAB source on Tuesday, the property tycoon will be extradited from the United Arab Emirates in accordance with the Vienna Convention and international anti-money laundering legislation.
Because of his influence, Mr. Riaz is thought to be untouchable, thus the accountability watchdog has asked UAE authorities for his extradition.
The source refuted the PTI’s claim that the UK authorities in the 190 million pound case did not charge Mr. Riaz with corruption.
“While rejecting the appeal, the UK court judgement notes that the conclusion of the Home Office that Mr. Riaz 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 source cited the ruling of the UK’s Royal Court of Justice in November 2021.
The source claimed that after reviewing the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) 2019 investigation and settlement with Mr. Riaz, Supreme Court rulings in Bahria Town cases, the JIT’s report on money deposited by Bahria Town into fictitious accounts, and a NAB reference against Bahria Town filed in April 2019, the UK Home Office revoked Mr. Riaz and his son’s visa.
The accountability watchdog advised against investing in Mr. Riaz’s UAE-based business, Bahria Town Dubai, and announced earlier this month that it had decided to extradite him.
Mr. Riaz and the UAE-based firm Dhabi Group formed a joint venture in 2018 to build a $20 billion real estate project in Dubai.
The goal of the project, called Bahria Town Dubai, was to build a posh and contemporary neighborhood featuring entertainment, business, and residential alternatives.
Dubai recently hosted the project’s launch ceremony.
For its housing projects around the nation, Mr. Riaz’s Bahria Town has been charged by the NAB with unlawfully occupying both public and private land.
It is thought that Mr. Riaz is currently living in Dubai in order to evade prosecution in Pakistan.
Al Qadir Trust is “not operational.”
Irfan Siddiqui, a senator for the PML-N, has stated that the Al Qadir Trust is nonexistent and has not been operating since 2020.
Al Qadir University was registered in December 2019, he added in a statement. Before that, in April of the same year, Mr. Riaz gave the institution 458 kanal of land in Zulfi Bukhari’s name.
Later, the land was transferred into the trust’s name, and Mr. Riaz deposited more than Rs280 million into the trust’s bank account, while PTI jailed founder Imran Khan donated Rs50,000.
According to the senator, Mr. Ali gave 240 kanals of land in Banigala to Farah Gogi, a friend of Imran Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, in July 2020.
According to him, the trust’s registration was canceled following NAB’s intervention and has remained that way ever since, meaning it was only in effect for eight months.