Malik Riaz and Imran Khan: Two Major Figures in Pakistan’s Corrupt Mafia

Pakistan’s history is replete with numerous sensational corruption cases, many of which have seen its rulers facing legal trials and even convictions. However, in the 190 million pounds case, presided over by Judge Nasir Javed Rana of Islamabad’s Accountability Court, a long-awaited verdict was delivered on 17 January 2025. This came after three postponements of the judgment, reserved on 18 December 2024, at Adiala Jail. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan was sentenced to 14 years in prison and fined 1 million rupees, while his wife, Bushra Bibi, received a 7-year prison term and a fine of 500,000 rupees, in the presence of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s leadership.

The 190 million pounds or Al-Qadir Trust case revolves around a donation of over 450 kanals of land given by the private housing society, Bahria Town, for the establishment of Al-Qadir University. The court has also ordered the nationalisation of Al-Qadir University.

According to the court’s verdict, the prosecution presented evidence during the trial, which the defence team—representing Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi—failed to refute. The prosecution’s case was primarily built on documentary evidence, which successfully substantiated charges against the accused with incontrovertible proof. While there may have been minor inconsistencies in the prosecution’s evidence—common in white-collar crime cases—the defence was unable to discredit the prosecution’s arguments despite being given numerous opportunities.

The reference regarding the 190 million pounds or Al-Qadir Trust was filed in Islamabad’s Accountability Court on 1 December 2023 against eight individuals, including former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi. Two of the accused, Imran Khan and his wife, were formally charged on 27 February 2024, and both denied the charges. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) stated that five of the accused, including Imran Khan’s advisor Shahzad Akbar, former minister Zulfi Bukhari, Bahria Town owner Malik Riaz, his son, and Bushra Bibi’s friend Farah Shahzadi, have been declared absconders. The court has issued perpetual arrest warrants for them and ordered the confiscation of their properties in Pakistan.

During the trial, the NAB presented 35 witnesses, including two federal ministers from Imran Khan’s cabinet, Pervez Khattak and Zubaida Jalal. The NAB had converted an inquiry into formal investigations against Imran Khan and his wife concerning hundreds of kanals of land in Jhelum, Punjab, under the Al-Qadir University Trust. The NAB was previously investigating allegations of misuse of authority and the handling of funds received from the United Kingdom. This is the same case in which Imran Khan was arrested on 9 May 2023 from the Islamabad High Court premises. Initially, the accountability court rejected his bail plea, but the Islamabad High Court later granted him bail against a surety bond of 1 million rupees.

The matter came to light in 2019 when a statement attributed to former federal minister Faisal Vawda surfaced in the media. He claimed that an issue had been approved during a cabinet meeting without prior notice to its members. Shahzad Akbar, Imran Khan’s then-adviser on accountability, verbally briefed the cabinet members about a secret agreement between the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Pakistani government. Faisal Vawda stated that federal ministers Fawad Chaudhry and Shireen Mazari had also raised questions about the matter during the meeting.

According to Cabinet Division rules, any matter to be discussed in the federal cabinet must be circulated seven days in advance. The NAB raised this issue in its reference, questioning the urgency that bypassed the seven-day rule for circulating the agenda.

The NAB alleges that the matter wasn’t merely a donation but the result of a secret agreement between Malik Riaz, the owner of Bahria Town, and the government led by Imran Khan. The 190 million pounds (equivalent to 60 billion rupees) frozen by UK authorities and later handed over to the Pakistani government were adjusted against the 460 billion rupees owed by Bahria Town in a Supreme Court ruling. In exchange, Bahria Town donated 458 kanals of land in Sohawa, Jhelum, to the Al-Qadir University Trust in March 2021. The NAB claims that this alleged agreement was made between Bahria Town and Bushra Bibi.

The NAB’s reference further highlights that the agreement with the UK’s National Crime Agency was signed on 6 November 2019, during Imran Khan’s tenure, with the first instalment of the funds reaching the Supreme Court’s account on 29 November 2019. However, the federal cabinet approved the agreement on 3 December 2019, and the members were not informed about the receipt of the first instalment.

According to NAB officials, discussions between Pakistan’s Asset Recovery Unit, headed by Shehzad Akbar, and the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) had been ongoing since 2018. Allegedly, later approval was sought from the federal cabinet to conceal certain aspects of the matter. NAB officials maintain that no law in Pakistan stipulates that the agreement signed between the NCA and the Asset Recovery Unit should remain undisclosed.

In the reference filed against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, it is also alleged that the funds received from the UK were deposited into the Supreme Court’s account instead of the federal government’s account. The reference further claims that Imran Khan, as Prime Minister, extended favours in exchange for which donations were received.

“Under the NAB Ordinance, if a matter is pending with a public officeholder, receiving anything from anyone falls under the category of bribery.” The reference also alleges that 240 kanals of land were transferred in the name of Bushra Bibi’s associate, Farah Shehzadi. Similarly, land was transferred in the name of another accused in the case, Zulfi Bukhari, even before the trust’s formal establishment.

Imran Khan and the other accused deny these allegations. Trustees of the university included Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi, and PTI leaders Zulfi Bukhari and Babar Awan, though the latter two later dissociated themselves from the trust. Following a federal cabinet meeting, some details of the alleged secret agreement were revealed. Documents contained Bushra Bibi’s signature as a trustee of the Al-Qadir University Project Trust.

PTI’s leadership and lawyers have described the reference as a “political case,” asserting that Pakistani law prohibits any court from challenging federal cabinet decisions. PTI argues that the funds mentioned in the reference did not enter Imran Khan’s personal account but were deposited into the Supreme Court’s account. The government could transfer these funds to the national treasury if it chose to. PTI further claims that the actual amount received from the UK following the NCA agreement was £171 million, not £190 million.

Conversely, the government has termed the £190 million case a “mega corruption scandal,” accusing Pakistani property tycoon Malik Riaz of laundering money from Pakistan to the UK. The NCA returned this money, considered the rightful property of the Pakistani public, to the government. While the NCA fulfilled its commitment, Imran Khan allegedly directed the funds, through his aide Shehzad Akbar, to the Supreme Court account linked to Malik Riaz’s £460 billion settlement in the Bahria Town Karachi case.

The government argues, “How can a trust, funded by a business tycoon, have a husband and wife as trustees?” They claim, “The money received from the NCA was entrusted to the people of Pakistan, but corruption and collusion started as soon as the money arrived. How does Imran Khan justify this?”

At one point, Malik Riaz was considered one of Pakistan’s wealthiest individuals, renowned for his residential projects. His success stories frequently appeared in interviews on television and in newspapers. Both Malik Riaz and his son, Ahmed Ali Riaz, are wanted in the £190 million reference. A year ago, an Islamabad accountability court declared Malik Riaz a proclaimed offender in the case and froze his and his son’s assets. The court ordered their arrest and the seizure of their remaining assets in Pakistan due to their continued absence. Both currently reside abroad.

Details of Malik Riaz and his son’s assets have been presented in court by NAB, yet these documents paint a different picture. The court was informed through NAB that Malik Riaz remains the CEO of Bahria Town Limited, although no formal ownership of Bahria Town was attributed to him.

In the £190 million case, besides former Prime Minister Imran Khan, other accused include Bushra Bibi, Farah Gogi, Zulfi Bukhari, Shehzad Akbar, and Malik Riaz, along with his son Ahmed Ali Riaz.

Details of Malik Riaz and his son’s assets, such as plots in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, as well as bank accounts, have been submitted to the court. A NAB official disclosed to the media that these are declared assets, officially recorded by revenue authorities and subsequently submitted to the court.

According to court documents, Malik Riaz owns land in Rawalpindi’s Kotka Kalan, Bamla Kanat, and Islamabad’s Mohra Noor areas. On paper, Malik Riaz and his son appear to lack vehicles or a roof over their heads, indicating a stark contrast between official records and their perceived wealth.

How did the list of assets shrink so dramatically on the journey to the £190 million reference? Are Malik Riaz and Ali Riaz no longer even shareholders in Bahria Town? According to a senior NAB official, the details of Bahria Town presented in court reveal much about the country’s justice system. It is common practice in Pakistan for wealthy individuals not to hold assets in their own names; such assets are often benami (undeclared or proxy ownership).

Currently, the “Transfer of Property Act” is not being enforced effectively in the country. Private housing schemes issue “allotment letters” in exchange for purchasing plots or homes instead of proper agreements to sell or sale deeds. This practice deprives the national treasury of taxes.

In the past, Malik Riaz has adopted unique methods when settling matters with the authorities. In his dealings with NAB, Malik Riaz often paid through third parties rather than directly. These agreements were termed “package bargains,” an unusual term not mentioned in NAB’s legal framework. These agreements included clauses stating that neither Malik Riaz nor his co-accused would be arrested in the relevant reference, and the case would be permanently closed.

Previously, Judge Muhammad Bashir of the accountability court ordered the freezing of Malik Riaz and his son’s movable and immovable properties. He also ordered the freezing of assets belonging to former Prime Minister’s aides Zulfi Bukhari and Shehzad Akbar, Farhat Shehzadi (known as Farah Khan Gogi), and lawyer Zia-ul-Mustafa Naseem.

The court directed revenue officers across the country to seize the immovable properties of the accused and ordered excise and taxation officials to confiscate vehicles registered in their names. Commercial banks were instructed to freeze their accounts, prohibiting any transactions or withdrawals. Additionally, the court appointed an additional director from NAB as a receiver to collect rental income from the accused’s properties.

However, this is not the first time that asset seizure orders have been issued. We all know that enforcing court decisions remains a significant challenge in the country. The Supreme Court has issued several rulings regarding Malik Riaz and his Bahria Town housing projects, yet years have passed, and forest lands remain unrecovered. Malik Riaz has never appeared before NAB for investigations.

While the court has the authority to investigate such matters, it appears that even institutions like NAB do not provide the judiciary with a complete picture. Witnesses often fail to reveal the truth, enabling influential defendants to escape accountability. Eventually, frozen assets often revert to their original owners. Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, heading a Supreme Court bench, had previously ordered the £190 million from the UK to be deposited into Pakistan’s national treasury.

Malik Riaz, a property tycoon and owner of Bahria Town, has already been declared a proclaimed offender in the Al-Qadir Trust case. Malik Riaz is known for his connections with political parties, the media, and both the civil and military establishments in Pakistan. He is widely regarded as someone skilled at navigating through challenges.

On 28 May 2024, Malik Riaz claimed via the social media platform X that NAB officials had raided the offices of his private housing society, Bahria Town Rawalpindi, to pressure him into becoming an “approver.”

He stated, “Malik Riaz will not become an approver. Government machinery, without legal authority, raided Bahria Town offices in Rawalpindi. After publicly declaring neutrality in any political power struggle, I am being subjected to open vandalism and persecution. These raids continued for hours, during which office security and staff were harassed, and property was vandalised. The raiding team took over 5,000 critical project files, office records, 23 computers, network data, departmental cash, and nine vehicles.” Malik Riaz alleged that these raids were part of a political agenda to pressure Bahria Town. Previously, on 26 May, Malik Riaz made a cryptic post on Twitter, hinting at “political pressure” and vowing never to yield. In response to becoming an approver, he declared, “I will never be a puppet. Over my dead body.”