Tag: ICIJ

  • PM Khan special adviser, donor awarded multi-million dollar hotel deal in Nathiagali: report

    PM Khan special adviser, donor awarded multi-million dollar hotel deal in Nathiagali: report

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) received funding from an individual Mumtaz Ahmed Muslim who owns an offshore company named Dreshak Security Solutions Inc. The security firm claims it has provided around 15,000 specialised non-combat security personnel to the American forces in the Iraq war, reports The News.

    The PTI-led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) returned the ‘favor’ to its donor by awarding a multi-million dollars contract to build a luxury hotel in the tourist destination Nathiagali in October 2021.

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s scrutiny committee report reveals that Mumtaz Ahmed Muslim is one of the party donors who gifted $24,979 to the PTI.

    Mumtaz Muslim is the president and owner of the hotel chain. Mumtaz is not just a party donor but he also has close ties with PTI leadership.

    On April 15, 2018, he met Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan at his Banigala residence. After this meeting, PM Khan decided to appoint him as his special adviser. On April 26, 2018, the PTI chief signed a notification to appoint Mumtaz Muslim as a special adviser to the chairman on special projects on April 26, 2018. Mumtaz’s name also appeared in the media as a PTI leader when the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) released a list of Pakistanis who own properties in the UAE.

    The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) recently released the Pandora Papers containing around 12 million confidential files from 14 offshore services firms. One of the leaked files contains Mumtaz Ahmed Muslim’s name who owns an offshore company Dreshak Security Solutions Inc.

    The Pandora Papers documents reveal that on August 06, 2006, Mumtaz Ahmed Muslim incorporated an offshore company Dreshak Security Solutions Inc. in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) jurisdiction. As per the documents, Mumtaz Ahmed Muslim and Imtiaz Ahmed Muslim are the officers and shareholders of the company. Imtiaz Ahmed Muslim is also the managing director of Dreshak Security Solutions Inc.

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, while talking to The News, said he has no information about Mumtaz Muslim’s security company. About the hotel contract, he said Mumtaz Muslim won it in open bidding.

    When asked about Mumtaz Muslim’s meeting with Chief Minister KP a month prior to the contract awarding, he said as far as he knows, the KP government did not award the contract but the army did. Talking about his affiliation with Imran Khan, the information minister said Mumtaz Muslim is a staunch party supporter and a former party member.

  • 80 per cent fact-finding inquiry into Pandora Papers complete

    80 per cent fact-finding inquiry into Pandora Papers complete

    The Prime Minister’s Inspection Commission (PMIC) has completed about 80 per cent of the fact-finding inquiry into the Pandora Papers revelations regarding offshore companies, money laundering, and tax evasion by bigwigs, and (in response to its queries) received replies from almost all public office-holders, bureaucrats and generals whose names have appeared in the papers, reports Dawn.

    “Soon after the leak, the PMIC was tasked with the fact-finding inquiry and the commission sent a pro forma carrying some queries to a majority of 240 persons, except a few whose names have not been verified so far. The PMIC engaged relevant institutions and has so far managed to complete 80 per cent inquiry,”

    The PMIC will meet its deadline for completing the first phase of the inquiry against 240 people by the end of this month (Jan 2022). The commission will further proceed on new names to be shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

    The commission believes that not all 240 accused would have committed money laundering and tax evasion as opening firms abroad and placing assets there was not a crime unless they were involved in money laundering and violating tax laws.

    Pandora Papers was made public on Oct 3, 2021. The Pandora Papers are based on documents leaked to the ICIJ which expose offshore dealings by kings, presidents, and prime ministers of more than 50 countries.

    According to the ICIJ, Pandora Papers contain names of more than 700 Pakistanis who secretly own or have owned an array of companies and trusts holding millions of dollars in the offshore jurisdiction.

  • High-powered cell to investigate 700 Pakistanis in Pandora Papers: PM Khan

    High-powered cell to investigate 700 Pakistanis in Pandora Papers: PM Khan

    Prime Minis­ter (PM) Imran Khan on Monday formed a high-powered cell to investigate the 700 Pakistanis named in the Pandora Papers, including federal cabinet members, politicians, retired generals, owners of media houses, and others in establishing offshore companies.

    PM Khan categorically stated that the prominent leaders and federal ministers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will have to clear themselves.

    Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, while speaking to Dawn said: “The prime minister was adamant that those who have been accused in Pandora Papers of having offshore firms will have to clear themselves.”

    The minister took to Twitter and informed about the formulation of the high-powered investigation cell. “The prime minister has set up a high-level cell under the Prime Minister’s Inspection Commission to investigate the Pandora leaks, which will present the facts before the nation,” tweeted Fawad.

    Law Minister Farogh Naseem would head the investigation cell that would also comprise the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials. The cases of the cabinet members would be sent to NAB for investigation. A separate probe will be launched by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to investigate the media owners whose names are included in the Pandora Papers, reports Dawn.

    Those who had evaded tax or made offshore firms through ill-gotten money would be taken to task, otherwise, no action would be taken against others because establishing offshore firms was not a crime, the source tells Dawn.

    Under the law, setting up an offshore company is not an offence or crime if the company is not involved in any illegal activity. However, those who have not declared these companies in their returns as assets may face legal action.

    After the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released a detailed list of public figures with offshore companies called the ‘Pandora Papers’ as part of their new investigation, PM Khan vowed to investigate all those Pakistanis mentioned in the Pandora Papers, and tweeted: “If any wrongdoing is established we will take appropriate action.”