KARACHI: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Karachi has conducted a major operation against money laundering through the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010, leading to the confiscation of four valuable assets owned by Bahria Town after directions from the accountability court. This decision was made after discovering that the assets were purchased using the money laundering process.
As reported by NAB sources, the bureau implemented the freezing orders following the investigation, which established that the acquisition and construction of the respective property was carried out through the flow of illegal money through a series of front companies and benami entities – an entire financial structure that the NAB is methodically demolishing in its various enforcement operations against Bahria Town.
Bahria Icon Tower was included after Rs8 billion were linked to money laundering activities for its construction
The most important part of the case of NAB regarding the seizure of property in Bahria Town includes the Bahria Icon Tower – one of the most famous business structures in Karachi. After investigations by NAB, it became evident that Rs8 billion in criminal activities had been used for the construction of this tower, which is owned by M/s Galaxy Construction Pvt Ltd.
The freezing of the Bahria Icon Tower is an important step forward for NAB in its offensive against the economic interests of Bahria Town. The freezing of a fully built and functional commercial tower shows that NAB’s strategy is targeting the most valuable real property under Bahria Town’s control and not the less valuable properties.
Bahria Town Tower at Tariq Road through benami proxy
The next property owned by the Bahria Town and frozen under the NAB Bahria Town properties is the Bahria Town Tower at Tariq Road, which is a distinct business property that the National Accountability Bureau seized after determining that the Bahria Town project was being operated using the name of Muhammad Awais, who was serving as a benami proxy for Malik Riaz Hussain and M/s Bahria Town. The practice of using someone’s name as a benami proxy in order to obscure the true ownership is a common technique in money laundering and is expressly prohibited under Pakistan’s Anti-Money Laundering Act.
NAB moves against 817 kanals in Sheikhupura and 2,029 kanals in Peshawar
Apart from the two buildings in Karachi, NAB’s action against the properties in Bahria Town, which were frozen, extended to two land blocks in areas outside Karachi. The two land blocks consisted of 817 kanals in Sheikhupura and 2,029 kanals of land in Peshawar that were designated for use in the Bahria Town of Peshawar, all belonging to the front company named as M/s Lifestyle Development (SMC) Pvt Ltd.
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The total land area of 2,846 kanals in Sheikhupura and Peshawar means that the NAB is adding another set of assets to the freeze order of Bahria Town’s lands and properties by expanding its operations not only to the Punjab province but also to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at the same time.
Disbanding of the network of front companies as NAB seeks to seize crime proceeds
By freezing the assets of the NAB Bahria Town properties, the move is aimed at the entire corporate structure which made it possible for the proceeds of crime to be transferred to physical property in the name of other individuals. M/s Galaxy Construction Pvt Ltd, Mr. Muhammad Awais as a benami front company, and M/s Lifestyle Development (SMC) Pvt Ltd each had its own purpose in the whole scheme.
All four property cases have been making their way through the courts in accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010, the same legislation that has seen NAB retrieve 80 acres of government land from Bahria Town in Hyderabad last month, in what seems to be an enforcement pattern indicating the bureau’s simultaneous pursuit of assets belonging to Bahria Town via several legal channels.
