‘Maqsood Chaprasi’ dies of cardiac arrest in Dubai

DUBAI/ISLAMABAD: Malik Maqsood Ahmed, aka Maqsood Chaprasi, a key accused in a multi-billion money-laundering case against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has died in Dubai due to heart complications and the Dubai Police have ruled out any foul play in his death.

Maqsood was an employee of the Ramzan Sugar Mills owned by the Sharif family. He had been living abroad for the last few years and had been declared a fugitive in Pakistan. Federal investigators had alleged that he received Rs3 billion in his bank account.

According to the Dubai Police, there was no criminal act involved in the death of Maqsood. They said the Forensic Department investigated the death from a criminal angle, but the demise was natural. The investigation into Maqsood’s death had been completed and his body had been handed over to his family.

It has been learnt that Maqsood died of cardiac arrest at his residence in Dubai on June 7 at 10am. The Dubai Police investigated his death from three angles covering a thorough analysis of his residence, clothing and body, after which they declared that Maqsood died on medical grounds.

Pakistani diplomatic authorities said the police and an ambulance arrived at Maqsood's residence, following an emergency phone call. According to the police, Maqsood was rushed to hospital where the medical staff pronounced him dead on arrival. "Maqsood had died before reaching the hospital," the medical record revealed. On June 7, the police declared the deceased's residence a crime scene and criminal investigations were conducted by top forensic experts. After collecting substance of Maqsood’s belongings, the police examined them in a forensic laboratory in which the possibility of any criminal act in his death was ruled out. The police conducted a separate analysis of elements found in Maqsood's body, in which the possibility of any foul play was ruled out.

At the same time, the police stated that Maqsood's clothes were examined on a scientific basis and the particles on his clothes were scrutinised, but no criminal conspiracy was found.

The Pakistan Consulate in Dubai on Wednesday confirmed the death of Maqsood and cancelled his passport and issued a no objection certificate to repatriate the body. According to consulate officials, Malik Muhammad Usman, a relative of the deceased, will take the body to Pakistan where he will be buried.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Information Secretary Farrukh Habib on Thursday said the cause of sudden death of Maqsood should be investigated. He said the deceased peon had been nominated in a money-laundering case against Shehbaz Sharif and his family and that his death raised many eyebrows because many important people related to the Sharif family’s cases had died abruptly.

Speaking at a news conference, he said unaccounted-for money worth billions of rupees was found in Maqsood’s bank accounts. He had been living in Dubai for long despite the fact that he was employed for Rs10,000 per month and the Sharif family kept him in their custody.

He said the Sharif family had a history of blackmailing others to get relief. They tried to blackmail Imran Khan for an NRO, but he always said no. The sudden death of FIA director Dr Rizwan, who was probing a Rs16 billion money-laundering case against the Sharifs, and now the death of Maqsood in Dubai was quite alarming, because the Sharif family was known for committing corruption and erasing evidence and witnesses.

Habib said the Supreme Court of Pakistan rightly called them 'Godfather and Sicilian Mafia' because when they took the reign, their sole purpose was to plunder the national wealth ruthlessly instead of doing anything for the public good. Therefore, he said, the death of Maqsood must be investigated to ascertain the real reason of his death and bring the responsible to book. He said the Sharif family always ridiculed Pakistan's constitution, law and institutions.

Reacting to Maryam Nawaz’s presser, he said she was doing nothing but making hue and cry to evade accountability. She failed to present a single piece of evidence in corruption cases but was levelling allegations against Imran Khan to get public attention.