FIA to probe 100 Pakistanis who bought properties in Dubai

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has decided to probe 100 persons who had invested in real estate business in Dubai, The News has learnt on authority.

Sources in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) confided to this correspondent that a list of investors in Dubai real estate had been handed over to the FIA in 2014, but it did not take any action until 2015, when the agency’s anti-corruption circle Karachi registered cases and initiated inquiries against four individuals, out of 100, in 2015 over alleged illegal funds transfer. Then there was no word on the issue for long.

The FIA, during an inquiry, had found that 96 individuals, who are Pakistani nationals, were allegedly in possession of properties in Dubai (UAE). The list contains names of the persons, their parents’ names, and exact property details inclusive of house/ apartment number, name of freehold property, etc.

As per details, to be submitted to a sub-committee of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance, the FIA wrote a letter to the Pakistan Consulate in Dubai, along with the list of individuals who purchased properties in the UAE. The agency requested for getting official verification of ownership of these properties, but till date no response was received from the consulate.

The State Bank of Pakistan has already cleared that no Pakistani citizen declared purchase of any property outside Pakistan. For the second time, the Pakistani Consulate was requested to get some details of Pakistanis’ investment in Dubai in 2016, but the Pakistan Embassy in Dubai did not respond, The News learnt.

According to the FIA, fresh notices have been sent to 100 individuals and 23 of them have admitted to having property in Dubai. But the FIA did not take any action against them. However, now the FIA has decided to ask the Ministry of Interior to get the status of Fund Treaties with other countries and conduct an inquiry into fund transfer through legal or illegal channels.

Documents available with The News showed that properties had been purchased in Al Samar, Golf Towers, Yanson Quarter, Reehan Quarter, Mosela GR Mosela, Fairways, Marina Pormenade DM-XI, Al Arta, Link GR Links, LOFTS, Al Ghozlan, Al Thayyal GR B4, South Ridge BD, Al Majra, Stand Point, R Palmera-IV, Al Jaz, Marian Quay DM, Al Dhafrah, Travo GR, OTB Kamoon and Greens Fairway, etc.

Hundred individuals who bought properties in Dubai are: S M Kashif Qaseem, Nadeem Aziz Mian, Mehboob Hussain, Syed Zaheer Abbas, Shaista Farhan, Shahzaib Akhtar, Saira K Iqbal, Raza Kamal Minhas, Naveed Ahmed Khan, Mir Alam Khan, Mahmood, who is a Karachi-based lawyer, Khurshid Ahmad Sheikh, Ashoq Kumar, Ashfaq Alam, Anisa Farooqi, Abdullah Hashwani, Ayesha Adeel and Afraz Alam.

Hamid Hassan, Najeed Raheem, Najeebur Rehman, Naveed Ather Hussain, Santosh Kumar Chawla, Shahid Shafiq, Sheikh Aftab Aijaz, Shazdeh Vakil, Sheikh Muhammad Nadeem, Abdul Qadir, Majid Hassan, M Zubair Waqar, Zia Hameed, Khurrum Khalil, Khalid Ahmed, Faraz Haroon, Asif Nisar, Bakhtiar Khan, Anwar Yahya, Fawad Usman, Jamil Yahya, Mujeeb Malik, Masood Ahmad Sheikh, Maria Maryam and Zakim Khan Mahsud were also owners of properties in Dubai.

Others who bought properties in Dubai include Usman Khan, Syed Muhammad Shibi, Shuaib Anwar Malik, Saqib Farid, Salma Hamid, Safina Syma, Khar, Sadaqat Said, Riffat Hussain Qazi, Nisar Kiyani, Naureen Sami Khan, Muhammad Munir Fazla, Malik Iftikhar Khan, Kamran Masud, Haroon Akbar, Hamid Farooq, Begum Jahanara Aminuddin, Basil Faruki, Muhammad Ali, Syed Ali Shabbar Jafferi, Javed Umer, Sheikh Furrukh Saleem, Sadia Khan, Junaid Khalid Nani Talwala, Aga Shahid Majeed Khan, Abdullah Kidwai, Asadullah Aga, Durr-e-Seema, Agha Arsalan Khan, Adeel Anwar, Ayesha Umair Siddiqi, Aijaz Ahmad Malik, Muhammad Shoeb, Farhan Razzak, Farhan Iqbal Saya and Imran Farid.

The last list of the investors in Dubai real estate comprises Farkhanda Nasreen Khan, Mariam Shabbir, Madiha Shabir, Shahzad Waseem, Fahad Sultan Ahmad, Kashif Nazir, Aamara Khan, Adil Bashir, Adnan Ahmad Khan, Aleema Khanum, Khalid Imran, Mansoorul Haq, Waqar Ahmad, Arshad Khan, Ch Saleemullah, Junaid Sami Khan, Karim Aziz Malik, Momin Qamar, Farhan Hanif, Muhammad Tariq Polani and Sultan Feroze.