Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan police chief, says the counter-terrorist financial investigation unit is involved in the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) related money-laundering investigation.
The Scotland Yard chief was answering questions asked by Naz Shah, the Labour MP for Bradford West, before an important session of the Home Affairs Select Committee at the House of Commons.
The high-profile intervention by Naz Shah means that the police will face a lot of probing questions in coming months with reference to its own handling of the cases including the murder investigation of Dr Imran Farooq and various aspects of the probe, where the police have been ineffective and allegations of political meddling are being made openly.
The Bradford West MP asked the Scotland chief about the cancellation of bail condition of Altaf Hussain, Sarfraz Merchant, M Anwar, Tariq Mir, Latif Jiwa and Yasin Haji and the facts surrounding the case.
Naz Shah asked: “Earlier this month the Met police cancelled bail conditions of 6 members of the Pakistani political party, MQM, who have been investigated for money laundering. In view of the fact that: A British judge, Lord Bannatyne, found in 2010 that: “the MQM has killed over 200 police officers who stood up to them in Karachi"; that the US authorities have declared the MQM to be a Tier-III terrorist organisation; that your officers found a receipt in the home of the MQM leader, Altaf Hussain, for weapons including mortars, grenades and bomb-making equipment; that in October last year Altaf Hussain threatened to play football with skulls of security personnel in Karachi; and that members of the House of Lords have told the BBC that criticising the MQM risks their lives and puts their children at risk. Given all this, can you reassure me that you will not rule out the use of terrorism legislation in making charging decisions about the MQM?”
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe replied that the police would use “whatever is the appropriate legislation”.
He said investigation into the MQM continued. He said: “The particular investigation you mentioned - which went on for two years and is not yet concluded – the bail period is concluded but not yet the investigation – that was carried out by the counter-terrorist financial investigation unit.”
Naz Shah, who defeated George Galloway by a huge margin during the last general elections, asked the Scotland Yard chief if he would consider seizing properties of the MQM because the party had been allegedly unable to show these assets.
“So I was on the legislative bill as a result of the Litvinenko murder yesterday and the minister put forward and rightly so about asset seizures. So will we be – there's millions this organisation owns, millions, but isn't able to demonstrate where these assets came from in London which is clearly unacceptable on our soil. Will the police or the Met be pursuing confiscation orders of any assets that cannot be accounted for?”
The Scotland Yard chief said he could not comment on this because it was an “ongoing investigation” but he added: “One is that we will use whatever powers are available and in that particular investigation which are as you know subject to a JR which concluded that in this case the use of bail were appropriate – is that there's an amount of money to be decided how that will be dealt with. But that will be dealt with in accordance with the law.”
Speaking to ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ on Geo News, Naz Shah said she raised legitimate questions of “public concerns”.
She said she believed that justice must be done and there should be no compromises at any stage. The Scotland Yard had reassured that the investigation would go on to establish facts, she said.
Naz Shah said that she was satisfied with the answers provided by the police chief.
“The police chief realises that he was asked these questions not randomly but at the forum of the Home Affairs Select Committee. We can call the police chief back and question and investigate him whether everything has been done fairly and whether the police can satisfy about its conduct and whether all the issues have been addressed. We can hold the police accountable again about the same concerns”.
Naz Shah made it clear that “these questions will not go away” for the police and these are serious concerns.
“I will be talking about the same issue (the MQM related money-laundering probe and Dr Imran Farooq murder case) and others will be asking questions too.”
Naz Shah told Geo News that it’s her job as an elected MP and elected member of the Home Affairs Select Committee to make sure that justice was not only done but also seen to be done.
“As representative of the people, it’s our job to hold the police accountable and make sure that there is no cover up and justice is done. I will also be writing to the Home Secretary Theresa May and I will be asking her the same questions. I am not scared of any political pressure and I believe that justice will be done.”
The MQM has denied being involved in money-laundering. It says that it has always cooperated with the police investigation and will engage with the police as per the legal advice.
Central co-ordination committee member of the MQM Dr Saleem Danish said in a statement on social media that he was “disappointed” with the “false” information provided by Naz Shah MP to the Home Affairs Committee about the MQM. “Please, confirm facts first!,” said Saleem Danish, but didn’t explain what the facts were.