NAB comes out swinging against Bahria Town project in Dubai; Malik Riaz calls it blackmail

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday cautioned the public against investing in Bahria Town’s new real estate project in Dubai, emphasising that the government was reaching out to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to seek property tycoon Malik Riaz’s extradition through legal avenues. 

“Mr Malik Riaz is residing in Dubai, UAE. He has recently launched a project for the construction of luxury apartments in Dubai, UAE. The general public at large is hereby advised and warned to refrain from investing in the stated project. If the general public at large invests in the stated project, their actions would tantamount to money laundering, for which they may face criminal/ legal proceedings,” the anti-corruption watchdog said in a press release carried by Radio Pakistan on Tuesday. 

It added, “The government of Pakistan is reaching out to the government of UAE for the extradition of Malik Riaz through legal channels.”

Pakistan and the UAE do have an extradition treaty, and Islamabad can legally request the Gulf country to extradite the real estate mogul.

The development came following the conviction of former Premier Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in the Al Qadir Trust case, commonly known as the 190 Million Pounds case, in which both were sentenced to 14 years and seven years in jail, respectively.

Property tycoon Malik Riaz and his son are also co-accused and proclaimed offenders in the Al Qadir Trust case.  

NAB recounted that Malik Riaz was wanted by the court with the watchdog already having frozen innumerable assets belonging to him and to Bahria Town.

NAB was conducting investigations against Malik Riaz and his associates for “fraud, deceptive practices and cheating public at large,” said the anti-corruption watchdog.

The watchdog said it had “cogent and credible information about the fact that Mr Malik Riaz and his accomplices have not only illegally possessed/occupied state-owned land but also land belonging to private persons situated at Karachi, Takht-Pari, Rawalpindi and New Murree.

“He is using these lands for developing housing societies without obtaining mandatory/required regulatory permissions/no objection certificates and has committed fraud against the state and general public at large to the tune of billions of rupees.”

NAB alleged that the property tycoon was developing housing societies under the name of Bahria Town “in a duplicitous manner” in other cities, including Peshawar and Jamshoro, by “illegally possessing/occupying land” and failing to procure the same mandatory regulatory permissions and legal documents.

It added that he continued to “defraud the general public at large by selling them plots/files in these illegal housing societies” despite neither he nor Bahria Town having a “good/clear title” to any of the lands in “these illegal housing societies”.

In reply, Malik Riaz declared the press release a blackmail tactic, threatening to unleash the "storm" within him. 

“NAB’s baseless press release today is actually a new blackmailing demand. I am holding back, but there is a storm within me. If this dam breaks, then everyone’s façade will shatter. Don’t forget that the secrets of the past 25–30 years are preserved along with evidence,” he warned on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.

Riaz stressed that he will neither be used against anyone nor will anyone blackmail him, adding, “My decision yesterday was the same as it is today: no matter how much oppression you inflict, I (Malik Riaz) will not testify.”