No politician on FIA list of UAE property owners

To the surprise of many, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), on the directive of the Supreme Court, recently compiled a list of Pakistanis who own property in the United Arab Emirates.The list does not carry the name of a single politician, despite the widely-held belief that they are deeply entrenched in the real estate market in that part of the world, sources and officials said.Interestingly, they said, the list finalised by the FIA only has the names of some 1,500 businessmen and prominent Pakistanis.The FIA’s exercise came as a surprise for many who are not sure whether the federal probe body’s move is a deliberate attempt to keep politicians safe from the apex court’s wrath, or a half-hearted endeavour to dig out the facts.Many suspect that the FIA may have assigned the job to junior officers with instructions to ignore politicians and senior bureaucrats.Sources and officials privy to the development said that hundreds of Pakistani businessmen faced threats of investigations into their real estate assets in the UAE.The FIA relaunched its investigation after three-year break on the directive of the Supreme Court, and so far, there has been limited “progress” by the agency, led by senior police officer Bashir Memon.“In 2015, FIA Karachi launched an investigation into reports about the properties of Pakistanis in the UAE, so that capital and foreign exchange flight from the country could be checked,” said a source, citing the history of the investigation. “For that, FIR 28/2015 was lodged with the FIA Crime Circle, which initially led to findings about 50 Pakistani businessmen, and later the figure came to 100 Pakistani businessmen who owned real estate in the UAE.”The FIA initiated the probe on a point that according to Foreign Assets Declaration Act 1972, a Pakistani must apprise the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) while buying any property outside the country.However, he said, SBP data showed that no Pakistani had ever provided the banking regulator with such information.“The FIA also approached the UAE authorities through the foreign ministry, but it has not received any response in the past three years,” said the source. “That was the point where the FIA investigation came to a standstill.”Memon, after assuming charge as FIA director general, vowed to relaunch the investigation into UAE properties, but he was similarly stymied.“In the meantime, the Supreme Court took notice and ordered a fresh investigation into the matter,” sources said.They added that during this period, the number of Pakistanis who owned property in the UAE rose to 4,000, but the final list only has between 1,200 to 1,500 names, even after it was updated through information gathered from different sources.The business community has expressed serious concerns over the FIA sending notices to businessmen.They claim that such an approach – targeting only the key contributor to the national economy – would shake investor confidence and dent the business culture in the country.“There is no secret that our politicians have significant property holdings in the UK, the US, and the UAE,” former Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) president Haroon Agar said.“Key leaders of all political parties own properties in foreign countries, and it is unfortunate that action in the name of accountability is only initiated against the business community because they are easy targets. It never ends. After years of stress and illegal tactics, cases are put on hold through underhand deals.”He claimed that businessmen are the highest taxpayers of the country, while politicians were openly blamed for corruption and stealing national money to build and acquire assets outside the country.However, he said, the FIA is focusing on the business community.“In the past, we have seen that the FIA only targets the business community, such as in hawala and hundi cases. It’s regrettable that an institution of national stature like the FIA exploits such cases and inquiries, and its officials turn such probes into bargaining chips to ‘mint’ money through illegal means,” Agar claimed.