Arif Naqvi and Politicians 1 to 4

ISLAMABAD: The US prosecutors in their 2019 criminal indictment in Albraaj case talked of four Pakistani politicians whom Arif Naqvi allegedly bribed or tried to bribe without identifying them.

Three of the four politicians were already named in an earlier article of Wall Street Journal, leaving many guessing who is “Politician-4”, who is now named by the Financial Times story. The US prosecutors in 2019 alleged that between 2013 and 2016 the “Politician-4” was bribed by Arif Naqvi.

The 77-page indictment document of 2019 on page 25 had alleged, “Between at least 2013 and 2016, Arif Naqvi, the defendant, at times assisted by Rafique Lakhani and Waqar Siddique, the defendants, used Abraaj funds to pay bribes to another Pakistani elected official (“Politician-4”) and to cover certain dining and travel expenses of Politician-4.”

The indictment on page 23 had discussed how allegedly at the direction of Arif Naqvi, members of the Abraaj Enterprise also bribed Pakistani elected officials for the benefit of the enterprise.

In para 54 of the indictment, the US prosecutor had alleged, “For example, in June 2016, Arif Naqvi, the defendant, authorised the payment of $20 million to a particular official in Pakistan (“Politician-1”) with connections to two senior elected officials (“Politician-2” and “Politician-3”) purportedly to engage Politician-1 as “a transaction adviser” and to “specifically focus on the approvals, consents and various agreements that will be required from the government of Pakistan and its related entities” for a transaction involving Abraaj, KES Power Limited, or K-Electric Limited. KES Power Limited was a holding company for K-Electric Limited, an electrical energy utility in Pakistan, in which various Abraaj-branded entities invested approximately $300 million.”

The Indictment had added that in his email personally approving the agreement and payment, Arif Naqvi, directed a senior member of Abraaj (“Executive”) to amend the agreement. It added, “In truth and in fact, the agreement was nothing more than a conduit through with Politician-1 could use Abraaj cash to influence Politician-2 and Politician-3 in connection with Abraaj’s plans to sell its stakes in Karachi Electric, over which the government of Pakistan had leverage.”

It added, “Indeed, prior to signing the agreement, Politician-1 reported to Executive-1 that Politician-1 would get the ‘blessings’ of Politician-2 and Politician-3 as well as their instructions as to how this money should be distributed.”

Then the Indictment said, “For further example, between at least 2013 and 2016, Arif Naqvi, the defendant, at times assisted by Rafique Lakhani and Waqar Siddique. The defendants used Abraaj funds to pay bribes to another Pakistan election official (“Politician-4”) and to cover certain dining and travel expenses of Politician-4.”

Although the indictment does not name any of these four politicians but the Wall Street Journal in its article, published in Oct 2018, claimed that Arif Naqvi, the embattled founder of Dubai-based Abraaj Group, had allegedly paid $20 million to businessman Navaid Malik for his assistance in securing cooperation of Sharif brothers for K-Electric sale.

The article alleged that Malik was tasked with securing cooperation from Nawaz Sharif — former prime minister — and Shehbaz Sharif – former Punjab chief minister — to help Naqvi sell Abraaj’s stakes in K-Electric. Naqvi, however, had denied the WSJ allegations.

The said WSJ story named three politicians, Navid Malik, Nawaz Sharif, and Shehbaz Sharif, who were believed to be referred in the updated indictment document as “Politician-1”, “Politician-2” and “Politician-3” respectively, leaving the big question mark about the identity of “Politician-4” for whom, according to the indictment, Abraaj funds were used to bribe and to cover his certain dining and travel expenses.

It is alleged that the “Politician-4” is Imran Khan about whom the Financial Times recently did a detailed investigative story.