Following the release of a substantial amount of data concerning properties owned by foreign individuals in Dubai, several Pakistani politicians mentioned in the report responded on Tuesday night. They downplayed the significance of the data, asserting that their ownership of properties was already disclosed and that there was nothing improper about it.
The data obtained by the Center for Advanced Defence Studies offers a comprehensive overview of hundreds of thousands of properties in Dubai, along with details about their ownership or usage, primarily from the years 2020 and 2022. Prominent figures named in the report include PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his siblings, the wife of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon, MNA Ikhtiar Baig, Hussain Nawaz (son of PML-N President Nawaz Sharif), Saad Siddique Bajwa (son of General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa), Senator Faisal Vawda, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, Akhtar Mengal, and PML-N MNA Ehsanul Haq Bajwa.
In response to the release of the information, a spokesperson for Bilawal Bhutto Zardari emphasized that the properties in question had already been declared by the Election Commission of Pakistan and the Federal Board of Revenue. The spokesperson stated that this information was also publicly available on the ECP website.
Additionally, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi acknowledged that a property in Dubai, which was purchased in his wife’s name, was fully disclosed and listed in tax returns. He further explained that the property had been sold a year ago, and a new property was recently acquired with the proceeds. Similarly, PTI member Sher Afzal Marwat confirmed ownership of an apartment in Dubai, asserting that it had been declared with regulatory authorities such as the FBR and ECP for the past six years.
Overall, the politicians named in the report sought to address the information by emphasizing that their property ownership was previously disclosed and in compliance with regulatory requirements, dismissing any implication of impropriety.
