MQM leaders fight over two houses worth £2m

LONDON: The founder and leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Altaf Hussain is entangled in a nasty assets dispute with two former loyalists Muhammad Anwar and Tariq Mir over the ownership of two expensive properties in Edgware.

The dispute involves the ownership of two properties: 185 and 221 Whitchurch Lane, Edgware. 185 is a five-bedroom property and 221 is a four-bedroom property. Both properties are worth around £2 million.

The News has seen land registry evidence which shows that both 185 and 221 have Muhammad Anwar and Tariq Mir as the title holders for both properties, registered with the HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs) in their name.

But the legal papers related to the same properties have Altaf Hussain and the MQM as the “beneficiaries” on the restrictions section which means that the ultimate beneficiaries of these properties, if sold or leased, will be the MQM founder and the MQM.

And that’s where the legal dispute and the trouble comes in when viewed in context of the English laws governing the ownership of properties and assets. Altaf Hussain and the MQM can become beneficiaries only if Muhammad Anwar and Tariq Mir willingly and voluntarily let go off these properties by transferring the title deeds to the names of Altaf Hussain and the MQM or any individual or entity nominated by them.

In the case of refusal by thetitle holders to shift or transfer the names of title holders, Altaf Hussain and his party will be unable to either sell these properties or get transferred on their names.

The matter is so serious that several meetings took place at the MQM’s International Secretariat to find a way forward until a total deadlock few weeks back, according to credible sources. These meetings were attended by Anwar, Mir, Nadeem Ehsan, MQM’s legal adviser Adil Ghaffar, Saleem Danish, Iftikhar Ahmed and Sufyan Ahmed.

Muhammad Anwar and Mir argued during these meetings that it was unreasonable of Altaf Hussain to demand of them to shift titles from their names to his name because they belong to the movement and not him and a case of MQM’s taxes and incomes is currently alive with the HMRC and its outcome is anyone’s guess.

They told the meeting that they were not sure about their future therefore the matter of shifting title deeds should be put on the back burner till a resolution found. “If we are fined or jailed or penalised, who will pay our bills and who will look after our interests as we don’t have jobs and no access to fund to fight our cases,” they argued.

The MQM leaders aligned to Altaf Hussain insisted that both Mir and Anwar should rescind their control over the properties and hand them to the actual beneficiaries Altaf Hussain and the MQM but the former loyalists refused citing a number of reasons.

Muhammad Anwar and Tariq Mir were sent questions, but none of them responded, but a source close to them confirmed that both of them are no more on civil terms with the MQM founder and their dispute is a reality.

The sources within the MQM confirmed that the two are involved in the dispute and refusing to oblige their commitment. The MQM is of the view that both Anwar and Mir want to occupy these properties or get major share of these assets through litigation.

Dr Imran Farooq’s alleged killers Kashif Khan Kamran and Mohsin Ali Syed had stayed at one of these properties nine years ago when they arrived in the UK from Karachi with the intent of killing the former senior leader of the MQM. Dr Imran Farooq’s wife Shumaila Imran Farooq lives at a nearby flat with her two sons Alishaan and Wejdaan. Both Whitchurch Lane properties are currently under the use of the MQM leaders working at its secretariat, but it’s clear that the case of these properties is headed for a big showdown.