Claim: Malik Riaz has shut down Bahria Town operations across Pakistan.
Fact: Real estate tycoon Malik Riaz did not announce shutting down Bahria Town operations across Pakistan. So far, he has issued a warning that “the situation has reached a point where we are being forced to completely shut down all Bahria Town activities across Pakistan. We are certainly one step behind this last step, but the situation on the ground is getting worse by the minute.”
On 6 August, multiple news channels reported misleading claims stating that real estate developer Malik Riaz had shut down Bahria Town’s operations across Pakistan. The claim emerged after he issued a statement on X, following the Islamabad High Court (IHC) reserving its judgement on petitions against the proposed auction of six Bahria Town properties.
According to Dawn, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had said that the business tycoon and his son had entered a plea bargain agreement pertaining to the 190 million pound case. However, the pair failed to make the required payments. As a result, NAB issued a notice to auction six Bahria Town properties in Rawalpindi and Islamabad earlier this year.
On 4 August, IHC then reserved its judgement against a stay order issued against the auction of Bahria Town’s properties by NAB. Consequently, state-run media outlet PTV said in a post on X that 7 August was set as the date to auction off the tycoon’s property.
Background
In 2023, former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife were accused of accepting bribes from Riaz in exchange for laundered money during Imran’s tenure. The bribe worked in part as a settlement for 190 million pounds repatriated to Pakistan in 2019 by Britain after Riaz forfeited cash and assets, settling a probe into the proceeds.
The Shehbaz-led government alleges that rather than submitting the retrieved amount from Britain to the country’s treasury, Khan paid the outstanding fines that were imposed on Riaz against illegal land grabbing at below market value.
When asked to testify in court against the claims, Riaz said in a post on X that he will not testify.
NAB, in a statement, then said that the pair and his son had entered into a plea bargain in the 190 million pound case, but they did not pay the agreed amount. Consequently, NAB sought details of properties which were to be auctioned under Section 33E of the NAB Ordinance, 1999, to recover the amount.
However, the IHC issued a stay order against NAB’s decision. As a result, NAB then filed a petition requesting to vacate the stay order. While hearing the petition earlier this week, IHC reserved its judgment on the petition filed by the bureau. The country’s state-run PTV then, on X, issued a list of properties that were to be auctioned tomorrow.
Properties to be auctioned off by NAB
Yesterday, IHC dismissed petitions against the auction of Bahria Town properties, consequently allowing NAB to move forward with the auction.
Riaz has been embroiled in real estate legal disputes along with leaders of other political parties as well. In 2020, NAB filed a reference against Riaz, along with others for illegal allotment of Bahria Icon Tower in Karachi. According to Dawn, the reference was an offshoot of a fake accounts case against President Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur. Riaz’s son Ali Riaz Malik also bought the controversial 1 Hyde Park Place from Nawaz Sharif’s son Hasan Nawaz in 2016 for 42.5 million pounds.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check was told by an official from Bahria Town that “all activities are operational as per routine”, who clarified that the legal team was looking into the matter. The official added that they were not permitted to elaborate on the situation.
Most importantly, the statement issued by Riaz was reported with misleading headlines in the news media. Riaz himself clearly stated that the situation had deteriorated substantially but did not say that any affirmative decision was made regarding shutting down operations.
Riaz, in his post, said that due to the actions taken against him by government agencies, Bahria Town’s operations across the country were “severely paralyzed”. He said that the “cash flow has been completely destroyed” for the organisation and it has become “impossible to provide daily services”.
“We are unable to pay the salaries of our tens of thousands of staff, and the situation has reached a point where we are being forced to completely shut down all Bahria Town activities across Pakistan,” Riaz said.
According to the statement, Riaz appealed to be “given a chance to return to serious dialogue and a dignified solution”.
Riaz added that they were ready to “participate in any arbitration and implement its decision 100 percent”.
“We want to continue our services for our beloved country, and not to leave quietly in these circumstances,” the statement concluded.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found that the statement had been misrepresented by multiple news outlets. The headline was misleading while the contents of the news reports were factual and accurate. These can be viewed here, here and here.
Misleading headlines used by news agencies
Soch Fact Check found that the claim was shared on multiple social media accounts. These can be viewed here, here, here, here and here.
Conclusion: Malik Riaz only warned that Bahria Town’s operations may shut down due to the dire financial crisis caused by an alleged government crackdown against him. In the statement issued by the real estate developer, he made an appeal to be given a chance to “return to serious dialogue and a dignified solution”. The statement does not say that Bahria Town has or will shut down operations immediately.
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Background image in cover photo: Malik Riaz’s X account
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