Monitoring Desk: Pakistani journalists criticize that the majority of media owners are not allowed to use the name of one of the convicted of 190 million, Malik Riaz while sharing any news about the mega scam.
The ‘beep’ replaces his name. The claim is that this is because he is the country’s biggest real estate tycoon and allegedly buys everybody, including the media owners. It is true that most newspapers and television channels use the word ‘business tycoon’ instead of writing ‘Malik Riaz’. If his name comes from any other person in live transmission or recorded shows, his name is replaced with ‘muting tone; a kind of toooonn beep’.
Interestingly, the page on the National Crime Agency (NCA) UK website with the name of Malik Riaz is no longer available and one cannot find anything about Malik Riaz if one tries through ‘Search’ on the page. It looks name of Malik Riaz is not available in the NCA online data.
On December 11, 2019, Transparency International (UK) raised three issues that could lead to a kind of cover-up of the issue and it stated in its letter to NCA:
“So far, little detail has been provided about how this will be done. We encourage the NCA to publish the steps it will take to ensure that the money will help those who have been victims of any corruption or theft in Pakistan, or to help Pakistan build its defences against corruption and money laundering”
“Spotlight on Corruption” released a statement on NCA and Malik Riaz Hussain on May 26, 2023, raising alarms and said:
“Spotlight on Corruption is deeply concerned that the 2019 settlement made between the NCA and Pakistani property tycoon, Malik Riaz Hussain, as part of efforts to tackle dirty money in the UK, is now at the heart of political turmoil in Pakistan.
We raised our concern at the time of the settlement in a letter with civil society colleagues that the way in which the funds were returned to Pakistan appeared to mean that Mr Hussain himself was the beneficiary of funds he paid as part of the settlement with the NCA, by reducing his liabilities to the Supreme Court in Pakistan. We noted at the time that if this was the case, then it would be in clear breach of Principle 9 of the Global Forum on Asset Recovery Principles for the disposition and Transfer of Confiscated Stolen Assets in Corruption Cases (Preclusion of Benefit to Offenders) – principles that the UK itself had helped to develop.
This case should prompt the UK to look beyond Russia at how the UK is used as a landing pad and laundromat for corrupt politicians and elites across the world. It is essential that the UK has a credible and robust law enforcement and political response to allegations that the UK has been host to those accused of corruption from Pakistan of whatever political persuasion”.
Related Story: Spotlight on Corruption Statement on NCA and Malik Riaz Hussain
Now non-availability of data about Malik Riaz’s case on the NCA website and on-line data raises further questions that could be answered only by the NCA and the government of Pakistan has it raised this issue with the NCA?
Moreover, there is another important question has Malik Riaz’s case officially been downed from the NCA data and website or it is just some technical issue? If it is officially been downed what are the reasons?
Such a situation can support allegations of certain quarters in Pakistan that the UK government has a soft corner for Imran Khan who has been punished in this case and the UK High Commissioner in Islamabad in the past had been allegedly quite active in criticizing the Pakistani government over cases against PTI and Imran Khan.
