Did Arif Naqvi finance PML-N top leaders?

ISLAMABAD: After latest developments in foreign funding case against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Arif Naqvi is seemingly out of question for allegedly financing Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) top leaders.

In 2018, it emerged that the founder of Dubai-based Abraaj Group Arif Naqvi had allegedly paid a whopping amount of money worth $20 million to a businessman Navaid Malik for his assistance to win approval and cooperation of then ruling PML-N top leaders including the premier Nawaz Sharif and then Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif for K-Electric sale.

The revelations had been made by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on October 16, 2018.

Arif Naqvi is a wanted person in the United States (US) over misappropriation of $230 million funds from a healthcare fund and faced arrest in the United Kingdom (UK).

WSJ had claimed that a partner at Abraaj named Omar Lodhi informed Naqvi of Malik’s assurance that former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif was “willing to give a strong endorsement” of the K-Electric deal to Chinese bidders in October 2015.

Founded in 2002, Abraaj was the Middle East’s biggest private equity fund and one of the world’s most influential emerging-market investors, with stakes in healthcare, clean energy, lending and real estate across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Turkey.

Naqvi denies WSJ allegations

Arif Naqvi had denied the claims and said that there was nothing untoward about those transfers to his personal accounts or his family and denied being part of any conversation that involved a payment to anyone in political office to facilitate the sale of K-Electric, Dawn News reported.

He said Malik was an Abraaj adviser on a variety of activities and that the contract was part of a lengthy discussion about the terms of that role. He said the final agreement “ensured that no conflict of interest would occur.” He said he called it “explosive” due to a reference to the potential sale of K-Electric, which was confidential at the time, according to the report published by Dawn News on October 18, 2018.

Naqvi said he was entitled to draw down funds from Abraaj, including for his sons and The Modist, an online luxury-clothing retailer started by his former assistant Ghizlan Guenez. No payments were made directly to Ms Guenez, he said. His sons declined to comment. The Modist said Naqvi is a personal investor in the company.

Naqvi said, “Abraaj did not transfer any loans from Air Arabia into the healthcare fund to conceal money missing from the fund since money was always available to the fund on a demand deposit basis.” He said Abraaj used money from the healthcare fund “on a temporary basis for general corporate purposes.”

Foreign funding case

After startling revelations regarding foreign funding of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) before coming into power, the scrutiny committee of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had stated in its report that the political party under-reported Rs312 million funds and concealed bank accounts between 2008 and 2013.

The ECP scrutiny committee reported that PTI under-reported Rs312 million funds between 2008 and 2013 and a discrepancy of financial records worth Rs145 million was witnessed in FY2012-13 alone.

Will ECP reveal records of PML-N foreign funding next month?

It has been confirmed that PTI under-reported funds and concealed dozens of its bank accounts besides receiving funds from foreign nationals and companies, whereas, questions were raised over the certificate signed by the party’s chairman for PTI audited accounts and allowing employees to receive donations in their personal accounts.

It may be noted that the report was surfaced after ECP resumed hearing of foreign funding case against PTI on Tuesday after a gap of around nine months while the case is pending since November 14, 2014.

Arif Naqvi’s role

Wootton Cricket Limited owned by Abraaj founder Arif Naqvi had been spotted as the biggest-ever by a foreign entity that funded a whopping amount of $2 million to PTI in 2013, it was learnt through the ECP committee’s report.

The ECP scrutiny committee had initiated a thorough inquiry into suspicious foreign funding complaints against different political parties including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F).

A scrutiny committee had been formed to look into PTI bank accounts in March 2018 and it took four years to submit its report to the ECP in December last year.

On the other hand, ECP had formed a scrutiny committee to look into PML-N bank accounts in April 2018. The emergence of the scrutiny committee’s report has increased the chances of a series of revelations regarding foreign funding to other political parties including PML-N and JUI-F.

The latest development made the questions arise about the next progress on reports over foreign funding to the PML-N.