New Delhi: When Qamar Javed Bajwa became a Lieutenant General, his wife was not even a tax filer. His closest friend in Lahore, Sabir ‘Mithu’ Hameed, was a good businessman but not a billionaire. Everything changed for both families as they moved ahead and became one family, Fact Focus reported in what is being called ‘BajwaLeaks’.
Within six years, both families became billionaires, started an international business, purchased multiple foreign properties, started transferring capital abroad, became owners of commercial plazas and plots, huge farmhouses in Islamabad and Karachi, an immense real estate portfolio in Lahore, and so on.
The current market value of the known assets and businesses within Pakistan and outside accumulated by the Bajwa family during the last six years is more than Rs 12.7 billion.
Members of Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Ahmed Bajwa, immediate and extended family, started a new international business, shifted capital abroad, and bought foreign properties, according to the report by Fact Focus.
In this process, a young woman from Lahore became a billionaire nine days prior to becoming the daughter-in-law of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), while her other three sisters remained as they were, the report said.
This young woman, Mahnoor Sabir, got back-dated allocations of eight DHA plots in Gujranwala on October 23, 2018, nine days before her marriage on November 2, something only possible if one has ownership of land acquired by DHA.
On the same day in 2018, the girl also became the owner of a Constitution One Grand Hyatt apartment again in the back dates of 2015.
This was the same time when many politicians were given Constitution One apartments sometime before Saqib Nisar legalised this shady project, the report said.
The General’s family also started joint business ventures with Sabir ‘Mithu’ Hameed of Lahore (father to Mahnoor and father-in-law of Bajwa’s son) and the same year the Hameeds started transferring capital outside Pakistan and purchasing properties abroad, Fact Focus reported.
The General’s wife, Ayesha, became a multi-billionaire with large farmhouses in Gulberg Greens in Islamabad and Karachi, multiple residential plots in Lahore, and commercial plots and plazas in DHA schemes.
Bajwa’s wife became the owner of two commercial plazas in Phase IV and Phase VI of DHA Lahore while he was COAS. The General’s wife used to hold money (some half a million dollars) in her US dollar (USD) accounts, the report said.
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) records show that the General’s wife was warned multiple times for concealing assets, and Fact Focus will release the details of these records in a follow-up report.
The General’s family also started an oil business in 2018, Taxx Pakistan headquartered in Dubai, and expanded all over Pakistan within a few months.
Despite many efforts over the last three years, Fact Focus was unable to obtain data about the assets in the name of the General’s two sons.
