Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar has removed Texas-based Pakistani-American businessman Muhammad Tahir from the post of Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM).

According to a notification issued by the PM Office, the appointment notification of the SAPM Mohammad Tahir Javed has been taken back. The notification to appoint Tahir Javed as Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Investment was issued on October 6 but the decision has now been taken to remove him from the post.

Reports said that PM Kakar took action after it was reported in US and Pakistani media that Tahir Javed has a previous conviction for theft which he hid and didn’t declare.

The Establishment Division Islamabad after the approval of the Prime Minister has withdrawn the notification for the appointment of Tahir Javed as Special Assistant.

Soon after his appointment, it was reported that Pakistani-American businessman Muhammad Tahir Javed had had been given the same perks and privileges as the minister of state for Tahir Javed.

Tahir Javed, 57, moved to the US from Toba Tek Singh in Pakistan with just $500 and became a successful businessman. According to his interviews, Tahir Javed did senatorial duties and worked as a repairman, besides other jobs after initially moving to the US.

According to court records of Texas, Tahir Javed was sentenced to serve five years of deferred probation beginning in January 1992 for felony theft dating back to September 1990. He was sentenced for five years but served only half of that term. Authorities in Texas had prosecuted him for theft and a minimum sentence for felony starts from a year.

Texas Jefferson County’s District Criminal Court data records Muhammad Tahir Javed’s felony theft as Cause: 56447; offence date: 25 September 1990, Beaumont Tx; filing date: 5 November 1990; offence description, theft by receiving; probation amount: 5; and description: P/G Judge; and Deferred Completed: 28th of March 1994.”

In July 2017, Javed was warned of criminal prosecution, ceisure or injunction by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The warning was issued over his Royal Smoke LL, an online purveyor of tobacco and tobacco related products. At the same time, Royal Smoke was subjected to government intervention.