Thousands of Pakistani citizens including more than a dozen retired military officials and their families own properties in upscale Dubai areas, according to data revealed by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) Dubai Unlocked project.
The leaked data provides a detailed overview of hundreds of thousands of properties in Dubai and information about their ownership or usage, largely from 2020 and 2022.
Pakistan, a country going through a severe economic crisis, came out prominent among the countries with massive properties in Dubai.
Among the thousands of Pakistanis who own these properties are around a dozen retired military generals, two retired air vice-marshals of the Pakistan Air Force, a serving inspector general of police (IGP), a retired president of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), a former chairman of the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL), and a serving chairman of the Pakistan Council for Science and Technology.
Politicians
President Asif Ali Zardari’s three children, Hussain Nawaz Sharif, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s wife, Sharjeel Memon and his family members, Senator Faisal Vawda, four MNAs and half a dozen MPAs from the Sindh and Balochistan assemblies. Former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also appears on the list.
The Property Leaks have also revealed that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s wife owns a property in Dubai which he didn’t declare in the nomination papers he submitted in March this year for the Senate election.
Per the Property Leaks data, Naqvi’s wife owns a five-bedroom villa in the Arabian Ranches. She received a rental income of AED600,000 (Rs45m) from this villa, which was purchased in August 2017 for AED4,347,888 (Rs329m) according to the record seen by The News. The villa remained in her ownership till April 2023 when it was sold for AED4,550,000 (Rs344m) as per the record.
Military officials
Late Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf and his wife’s name appear in the leaked data as owners of three properties in the areas of Dubai Marina, Burj Khalifa and Al Thanyah Fifth.
Musharraf’s former military secretary Lt-Gen Shafaat Ullah Shah, who goes by the username @infantry28, is also included in the list. It should be noted his name appeared in Pandora Papers too.
Former DG Counter Intelligence Maj Gen (r) Ehtasham Zameer, his son and other children are also on the list as owners of properties in the Al Warsan First, Marina Arcade Marsa areas.
Also on the list is the son of Lt-Gen Afzal Muzaffar of the NLC scandal fame.
Lt-Gen (r) Muhammad Akram owns a property in Elite Residences 4. In addition, Lt-Gen Alam Jan Mehsud and his spouse own a five-bedroom apartment in the Al Hamri Palm Jumeirah area.
Maj Gen (r) Ghazanfar Ali Khan also owns a property in S15 Building Al Warsan First.
Major Gen (r) Raja Muhammad Arif Nazir also appears in the leaked data for owning a property in Golf Promenade 2-A, Al Hebiah third area.
Air Vice Marshal (r) Saleem Tariq also appears to own property. As does Air Vice Marshal (r) Khalid Masood Rajput.
Also included in the list are Major Gen (r) Muhammad Farooq, Major Gen (r) Anis Bajwa’s spouse, and Maj Gen (r) Najam-ul-Hassan Shah.
Businessmen
Chief Financial Officer of Omni Group Aslam Masood along with his wife is also shown as a listed owner of several properties in the data. The News checked the value of one of them and found out that it was purchased at AED1,060,626 (Rs80m) in March 2013.
Sohrab Dinshaw is also a property owner in Dubai. A villa he purchased in 2015 carried a purchase price of AED 1271888 (Rs 96m).
Former president of the NBP Arif Usmani also features on the list as the owner of a penthouse.
Bureaucrats
IGP Azad Jammu and Kashmir Dr Sohail Habib Tajik is also on the list for owning property in Al Dafrah First Al Thanyah Third.
The list and details will be updated.
