At least 259 Pakistanis are named in the second set of Panama Papers, including close associates of politicians and families of celebrities along with businessmen, including those who registered companies only to open accounts in Swiss banks, as the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published online Monday detailed data from the Panama Papers trove on more than 200,000 secret offshore companies.
The searchable database built on just a portion of the documents leaked from the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca reveals more than 360,000 names of individuals and companies behind the anonymous shell firms, the ICIJ said.
The documents in a searchable database are accessible at offshoreleaks.icij.org.
Identities of some of the high-profile figures suspected to be linked with offshore companies are still being ascertained and will, therefore, be published after a complete investigation.
According to details, more than 150 citizens of Karachi and 100 citizens of Lahore are named in the Leaks. Residents of Islamabad, Peshawar and Gujrat also feature in the revelations.
Saifullah family owns the highest number of offshore companies and the biggest owner among them is Javed Saifullah who owns 17 companies while Humayun Saifullah owns nine off-shore companies.
The most favourite country of the Pakistanis for establishing off-shore companies is British Virgin Island where they made 153 companies.
Right from the family of Zulfikar (Zulfi) Bokhari, a close friend of Imran Khan, to Irfan Puri, an oil czar equally close to the PPP/MQM leadership and presently in Dubai jail; from Tariq Islam, a cousin of Benazir Bhutto, to the son of former health minister Naseer Khan; from the family of famous Seth Abid to the son of Admiral (r) Muzaffar Hassan; and from the Port Qasim Authority’s former MD and NRO beneficiary Abdul Sattar Dero to the former president of Karachi chamber of commerce, Shaukat Ahmed, are in the list.
Mother of Oscar award winner, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy; fashion designer Zehra Valliani along with her brother, an asset manager, Fawaz Valliani have also been identified as owners of offshore companies.
Wamiq Zuberi of the Business Recorder and his wife, Dr Rukhsana Zuberi have been identified among those invested in an offshore company, a fact Wamiq acknowledged to a media outfit. He said that they stopped investing after being defrauded and that the company was owned by somebody else who was murdered in Islamabad.
Abdul Aleem Khan of the PTI also features in the leaks.
As far as Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bokhari (Zulfi Bokhari) is concerned, he has been identified in connection with the offshore companies he own along with his two sisters. There are six companies owned by Zulfi family: K-Factor Limited, Bradbury Resources Ltd, Bayteck Limited, Bayla Trading Limited, Poreim Trading Limited and Ganstam Trading Limited.
Ownership of three companies have been identified in connection with Irfan Iqbal Puri, a businessman enjoying equally good relations with Asif Ali Zardari and Altaf Hussain. Together with his son, Irfan is shareholder of the following companies registered in the British Virgin Islands – IP Commodities Limited, IP Global Limited and Pure Palm Oil Limited.
Link Investments Limited, a company registered in Bahamas, identified Tariq Islam, cousin of Benazir Bhutto, as its owner.
Former health minister of Shaukat Aziz government, Naseer Khan, has his family members owning an offshore company, Atwood Investments Limited. His son (Muhammad Jibran) and brother (Zafarullah Khan) have been identified as shareholders among others.
Sajid Mahmood, son of famous Seth Abid of Lahore, is owner of Mossgreen Limited, an offshore company registered in British Virgin Islands only last year. Other shareholders of the company are: Akbar Mahmood, Ajaz Mahmood and Bushra Ajaz. The family owns more than 30 companies in Pakistan under the banner of Abid Group.
Destiny Investment Development Limited and Simkins International Limited are two offshore companies owned by an NRO beneficiary and former MD Port Qasim Authority, Abdul Sattar Dero. He is considered very close to the Zardari family and look after some businesses in UAE. Among the co-owners of these offshore companies are Zahida Dero, Fahad Sattar Dero and Fawad Sattar Dero. A London-based company: Stevenage Investments Ltd (Russel Bedford House, City Forum, 250 City Road, London, EC1V 2QQ) is also shareholder of the above-mentioned offshore companies of Dero. Who owns Stevenage Investments Ltd remains to be checked. Accounts at foreign banks have also been opened through these offshore companies.
Former president of Karachi chamber, Shaukat Ahmed, has been identified as the owner of Global Link Properties Inc., registered in Seychelles. Among other shareholders are his son, Imran Shaukat and daughter-in-law. Imran is also one of three shareholders in yet another company, Emirates International Holdings Limited, along with Rashid Bashir and Khurshid Ahmed Sheikh.
Saba Obaid, mother of Oscar-award winning Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, has been identified in connection with three companies: Fabrics International Services Limited, Belize Group Limited and Bella Holding Group Limited.
About the first company, a document indicates that it was set up to “receive commission from a toweling/fabric factory in Pakistan. The company is the authorised agent as far as Pakistan export regulations are concerned and is able to receive commission on exports of goods up to maximum of 7 per cent of export consignments.” Source of funds has been described as “personal savings.”
Towellers Limited is a public limited company in Karachi. Saba Obaid and Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy are amongst its various listed shareholders.
Belize Group Limited, another offshore company owned by the Obaid family, owns two properties in New York’s Trump Tower of Donald Trump and are used for rental income. Bella Holding Group Limited of Obaid family has been used for purchasing a residential property in New York.
Nabila-Matrix Limited, an offshore company of British Virgin Islands, identifies its shareholders as Azfar Hassan (a Lahore-based businessman and son of Admiral (r) Muzaffar Hassan) and Nadeem Iqbal Saigol.
Mehreen Akbar, the wife of Ghous Akbar, has been identified as a shareholder of four companies created for holding properties in UK. Other shareholders are her sisters, Irum and Mahim whereas bearer share certificates have also been issued in the name of AKB Privatebank Zurich AG, Switzerland that is also custodian of the companies accounting record. Mark Investment Limited, IMM Gulf Limited, Indigo Properties Limited and Zarmay Investments Ltd are their companies registered in Republic of Seychelles.
Ghous Akbar told a media outfit on Monday that he had nothing to do with the companies operated by his in-laws. His wife Mehreen also disassociated herself. She said she didn’t purchase either shares or the properties. “I can only assume that my one third share may be passed if I choose to accept my inheritance by way of succession and inheritance after our parents.”
Owners of Olympia International, Munir Monnoo and his son, Humayun, set up a company, Clifton Holdings Services Incorporated in Panama. Purpose of setting up the company has been described as “holding a bank account in Switzerland”.
Valliani family has been identified in connection with four companies: European American, Investments Limited, Polenta Capital, Ikogenia Trust and Emirates Commerce Limited. Fawaz Valliani (CEO of Elixir Securities), Zehra Valliani (a fashion and jewellery designer in Islamabad) and their mother, Sameena Valliani.
Upon inquiry, Zehra said Fawaz (her brother) might have formed the companies without her consent and that of her mother. Zehra said she was not in speaking terms with him for last 10 years.
The leaked documents belong to law firm, Mossack Fonseca that have been published by Panama Papers. The paper earlier published leaks in April that alleged around 140 leaders of the world of evading taxes and stashing wealth abroad while 200,000 offshore companies were revealed.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s family was accused among other politicians. Iceland’s prime minister was forced to resign when his name was linked to an offshore company while Spanish minister also stepped down. British Prime Minister David Cameron ended up admitting he profited from an offshore firm started by his father.
PM Nawaz and his family faced criticism from opposition parties mainly the PTI chief. Imran Khan has demanded the prime minister resign until a judicial commission led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Anwar Zaheer Jamali enquires into the issue.
Opposition parties rejected the Terms of References (TORs) put forth by the government ahead of the probe. Joint TORs were put together by different opposition parties including Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), PTI, Awami Muslim League (AML), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and others. However, the government alleged the opposition of attempting to save their accomplices by omitting a clause from the proposed TORs.
Joint TORs presented by the opposition were rejected by the government in the latest development in the matter.
Senior members and leaders of different opposition parties are scheduled to hold a meeting today to finalise a strategy after government’s disagreement on TORs.