KARACHI: Pakistan’s national anti-graft body said it auctioned three properties owned by top real estate firm Bahria Town and its founder Malik Riaz Hussain on Thursday, saying the move was part of its efforts to recover “defrauded funds” from a court-approved plea bargain.
The auction was held a day after the Islamabad High Court dismissed a petition by the firm against the planned auction of its properties by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The six properties up for auction include one in Islamabad and five in Rawalpindi.
NAB said the sale aims to recover unpaid amounts from a settlement deal linked to the £190 million case involving Hussain, the founder of Bahria Town. Hussain has spoken publicly for months about being pressured due to “political motives” and facing financial losses as NAB opens cases against his property development projects across Pakistan.
Farooq H. Naik, Bahria Town’s counsel, told Arab News on Wednesday the firm plans to challenge the high court’s decision in the Supreme Court.
“NAB Islamabad/Rawalpindi today conducted a public action of six commercial properties linked to Malik Riaz/Bahria Town, in efforts to recover defrauded funds from a court-approved plea bargain of 2019,” NAB said in a press release.
The anti-graft body said three out of the six properties remained unsold due to a lack of qualifying bids, adding that a re-auction for them will be announced “soon.”
Listing the details of the properties that were auctioned, NAB said Rubaish Marquee in Islamabad was successfully auctioned for Rs508 million [$1.78 million], which it said was Rs20 million [$70,000] higher than the reserved price.
It said the payment and transfer process for the property is underway.
Meanwhile, Bahria Town’s Corporate Office-I received conditional offers of Rs876 million [$3.07 million], disclosing that its final approval is pending from NAB’s competent authority.
The third property, named Corporate Office-II, received conditional offers of Rs881.5 million [$3.09 million]. The anti-graft body said its final approval is pending from NAB.
“NAB remains committed to transparent recovery of public funds and strict enforcement of accountability laws,” it added.
AL-QADIR TRUST
Pakistan’s government has launched a high-profile crackdown against Hussain in recent months. On Wednesday, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had uncovered evidence of Hussain’s and
Bahria Town’s involvement in money laundering of billions of rupees.
Hussain and Bahria Town have so far not responded to the allegations.
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 the 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.
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.
