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.