Bahria Town, a top Pakistani real estate developer, has appealed to Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir to direct authorities to hold a transparent auction of its disputed properties, the real estate firm said this week.
Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is investigating Bahria Town founder Malik Riaz Hussain in several cases in which he is accused of laundering money and using state lands for private housing societies.
Hussain, one of Pakistan’s wealthiest and most influential businessmen, has denied any wrongdoing. He has previously said he is being targeted for “political motives” and that NAB’s cases against his projects across Pakistan have caused him financial losses.
In a letter written to Field Marshal Munir, Bahria Town’s acting CEO Muhammad Ilyas said the company was being subjected to “discriminatory” treatment and alleged that its assets worth billions of rupees were being auctioned off at throwaway prices.
“Our humble appeal is that this entire matter may be immediately reviewed through an independent, transparent and impartial process,” Ilyas said in the letter dated July 3.
“Further auction of the disputed properties of Bahria Town may be stopped forthwith,” he said. “The complete record of all auctions conducted may be called for and examined.”
The acting CEO highlighted that the rushed auction of Bahria Town properties was causing “irreparable loss” to ordinary citizens who had invested their life savings in these projects.
Ilyas requested to be given an arbitration opportunity to resolve all the matters lawfully.
“If any lawful liability or default is determined against Bahria Town, it is ready to pay the same in accordance with the law,” he said.
Last month, NAB said its probe established that M/s Bahria Town Pvt Ltd. utilized an illicit Hawala/Hundi network within Pakistan to launder crime proceeds out of the country.
It accused Hussain’s son, Ahmed Ali Riaz, the CEO of Bahria Town, and his wife, Mubashara Ali Malik, of holding two foreign bank accounts located in Silver Bank, Mauritius.
In April, NAB Chairman Lt. Gen. (retd.) Nazir Butt said Interpol had issued Red Notices for Hussain and his son at the anti-graft body’s request. He said NAB would bring Hussain back from the United Arab Emirates, where he is currently residing, to face charges of money laundering worth over Rs700 billion ($2.5 billion).
Riaz was declared a proclaimed offender in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case in 2024. The case involves allegations that jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, during Khan’s premiership from 2018 to 2022, were gifted land by Hussain as a bribe for illegal favors. All three deny any wrongdoing.