Pakistani Owners of Properties in Dubai Defend their Legal Status after Leaks Reveal 17,165 Pakistanis own 24,403 properties in UAE worth $ 11 Billion

ISLAMABAD: Monitoring Desk – Dubai leaks has exposed 17,165 Pakistanis who own 24,403 costly properties in UAE worth $ 11 Billion while the same owners are convincing the international investors to invest in Pakistan. They include political leaders, military officers, relatives of both powerful circles, Officials , businessmen etc. So called ruling class , champions of people’s rights, saviors of the nation in security forces are present in the lists. Those who are active today have defended the legal status of their properties in Dubai.

Dubai Unlocked, an investigative project involving more than 70 media outlets around the globe, has revealed the ownership of properties in the Emirate of prominent global figures, including alleged money launderers and drug lords, political figures accused of corruption and their associates, and businessmen sanctioned for financing terrorism, among others.The data spans 2020 and 2022 and only includes residential properties.

Pakistanis listed in leaks include President Asif Ali Zardari’s three children, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s son Hussain Nawaz Sharif, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s wife, Sindh provincial minister Sharjeel Memon and family members, Senator Faisal Vawda, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmaker Sher Afzal Marwat, and half a dozen lawmakers from the Sindh and Balochistan assemblies.

The Pakistani list also features the late Gen (retired) Pervez Musharraf, former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa’s son, and more than a dozen retired army generals as well as a police chief, an ambassador and a scientist, all of whom owned properties either directly or through their spouses and children.

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President Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party also said the properties of its leaders in Dubai had been duly declared in tax returns.

Zulfiqar Ali Badar, the spokesperson for former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, asserts that the national and international assets of Bilawal and Aseefa Bhutto are declared with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

Badar says that during Benazir Bhutto’s exile in Dubai, her children, Bilawal and Aseefa, resided in these properties, which were inherited by them after her death.

He emphasises that the details of Bilawal and Aseefa’s properties in Dubai are already public, so there is nothing new or illegal in the disclosure. He adds that any defamation-based actions will be contested in the appropriate forums.

Sindh Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon affirms that the properties mentioned in Dubai are already declared and known to the public.

He says that these properties are declared with the ECP and relevant tax authorities. He notes that he submits these details in the asset and property declaration form every year.

He says that its status can be verified through the FBR. He says he has also declared it in his nomination forms in 2018.

Senator Faisal Vawda states that his property in Dubai is declared. He points out that whenever a valuable car or property is mentioned, his name tops the chart. Vawada however expresses his objection to the timing of the property leaks.

Pakistani politicians and others were last named in the 2016 Panama Papers, leaked documents that showed how the rich exploit secretive offshore tax regimes.

“What is the new thing here,” Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on X, dismissing the leaks and saying all those named in the data were already known to have properties abroad.

Explaining his position on the issue, Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi said the Dubai property bought in his wife’s name in 2017 was fully declared and listed in tax returns.

“It was also declared in returns submitted to the Election Commission as caretaker CM [chief minister] of Punjab,” he said in an X post. “The property was sold a year ago, and a new property was purchased recently with the proceeds.”

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker and ex-PM Imran Khan aide, Sher Afzal Marwat, admitted he owned an apartment in Dubai, but had declared it with authorities in Pakistan, including the Federal Board of Revenue and the Election Commission of Pakistan.

“It can be confirmed with both the FBR and as well as ECP,” he said.

The property records at the heart of the Dubai Unlocked project come from multiple data leaks, mostly from the Dubai Land Department, as well as publicly owned utility companies. Taken together, the data provides a detailed overview of hundreds of thousands of properties in Dubai and information about their ownership or usage.

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