A national swimming champion and recently Graduated from UCF-USA in Hospitality and Event Management
Dated
August 7, 2022
Whatever the decision of Abraaj Group resurfaces the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding the foreign funding case of PTI, the fact remains that Arif Naqvi of Abraaj Group prominently figures in the episode. The latest reports about the involvement of Abraaj Group in Pakistani affairs emerged when the credible newspaper, the Financial Times, carried a news item detailing a money trail of funds given to PTI. The piece in the Financial Times details the strange case of the cricket match that helped fund Imran Khan’s political rise in Pakistan. The match was organised by Arif Naqvi of Abraaj Group when he was at the height of his financial career for which he invited hundreds of bankers, lawyers and investors to his country estate in the Oxfordshire village of Wootton for weekend of sport and drinking.
The cricket match was held under the auspices of Wootton Club that was managed by Arif Naqvi of Abraaj Group from 2010 and 2012. Though such games are a regular feature of English summer season but this match was singularly different than all such features for two reasons: first was the extremely derogative titles given to the contesting team known as Peshawar Perverts and Faisalabad Fothermuckers and secondly the funds collected from the match were sent to fund PTI instead of going for philanthropic causes. It was reported that the match was attended by many prominent people who were asked to pay between £2,000 and £2,500 each to attend, with the money going to unspecified philanthropic causes. Funds poured into Wootton Cricket Limited, registered in Cayman Island, including at least £2 million from Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al-Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family, government minister and chairman of Pakistan’s Bank Alfalah.
This matter has assumed crucial significance for Pakistani political affairs as electoral laws of the country forbids foreign nationals and companies from funding political parties but documents emerging out of Abraaj Group clearly indicate that between February and May 2013 both companies and foreign nationals as well as citizens of Pakistan sent millions of dollars to Wootton Cricket before money was transferred from the account to Pakistan for the PTI. In this context, a case against PTI for breaking rules about foreign funding was under investigation for the last eight years and in the course of investigation it pointed out that PTI received funding from foreign nationals and companies observing that the party had been under-reporting funds and concealing dozens of bank accounts and added Wootton Cricket in the list of donors.
The matter of PTI being funded by the Abraaj Group has been reported for long though it has been vociferously denied. It was however pointed out that no money trail about such funding ever emerged but now the Financial Times has removed the lid providing a financial disclosure. It is reported that Wootton Cricket’s bank statement shows it received $1.3 million on 14 March, 2013 from Abraaj Investment Management Ltd. Later the same day, $1.3 million was transferred from the account directly to a PTI bank account in Pakistan and Abraaj expensed the cost to a holding company through which it controlled K-Electric, the power provider to Karachi. According to the bank statement, a further $2 million flowed into the Wootton Cricket account in April 2013 from Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al-Nahyan through Swift transfer system. It was further reported that Arif Naqvi then exchanged emails with a colleague about transferring $1.2 million more to the PTI and just six days after Naqvi transferred $1.2 million from it to Pakistan in two instalments. Rafique Lakhani, the senior Abraaj executive responsible for managing cash flow, wrote in an email to Arif Naqvi that the transfers were intended for the PTI.
The story of the Financial Times has quoted verbatim a flurry of emails about this matter that are quite intriguing as in one of them Arif Naqvi mailed Lakhani, the Abraaj executive responsible for cash flow, asking him not to tell anyone where funds are coming from. Also Lakhani proposed sending the money in two instalments to a personal account for businessman Tariq Shafi in Karachi and an account for an entity called the Insaf Trust in Lahore. Interestingly, Arif Naqvi gave a statement which was filed before the Election Commission that the money came from donations during a cricket match and the money was collected by him was sent through his company Wootton Cricket. Naqvi has acknowledged his ownership of Wootton Cricket and denied any wrongdoing yet the bank statement for Wootton Cricket tells a different story showing that Naqvi transferred three instalments directly to the PTI in 2013 adding up to a total of $2.12 million. Imran Khan has confirmed that Tariq Shafi donated money to the PTI but has insisted that it was up to Tariq Shafi to explain where the money came from. TW
Abraaj Group resurfaces
ByHoor Asrar Rauf
A national swimming champion and recently Graduated from UCF-USA in Hospitality and Event Management
Dated
August 7, 2022
Whatever the decision of Abraaj Group resurfaces the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding the foreign funding case of PTI, the fact remains that Arif Naqvi of Abraaj Group prominently figures in the episode. The latest reports about the involvement of Abraaj Group in Pakistani affairs emerged when the credible newspaper, the Financial Times, carried a news item detailing a money trail of funds given to PTI. The piece in the Financial Times details the strange case of the cricket match that helped fund Imran Khan’s political rise in Pakistan. The match was organised by Arif Naqvi of Abraaj Group when he was at the height of his financial career for which he invited hundreds of bankers, lawyers and investors to his country estate in the Oxfordshire village of Wootton for weekend of sport and drinking.
The cricket match was held under the auspices of Wootton Club that was managed by Arif Naqvi of Abraaj Group from 2010 and 2012. Though such games are a regular feature of English summer season but this match was singularly different than all such features for two reasons: first was the extremely derogative titles given to the contesting team known as Peshawar Perverts and Faisalabad Fothermuckers and secondly the funds collected from the match were sent to fund PTI instead of going for philanthropic causes. It was reported that the match was attended by many prominent people who were asked to pay between £2,000 and £2,500 each to attend, with the money going to unspecified philanthropic causes. Funds poured into Wootton Cricket Limited, registered in Cayman Island, including at least £2 million from Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al-Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family, government minister and chairman of Pakistan’s Bank Alfalah.
This matter has assumed crucial significance for Pakistani political affairs as electoral laws of the country forbids foreign nationals and companies from funding political parties but documents emerging out of Abraaj Group clearly indicate that between February and May 2013 both companies and foreign nationals as well as citizens of Pakistan sent millions of dollars to Wootton Cricket before money was transferred from the account to Pakistan for the PTI. In this context, a case against PTI for breaking rules about foreign funding was under investigation for the last eight years and in the course of investigation it pointed out that PTI received funding from foreign nationals and companies observing that the party had been under-reporting funds and concealing dozens of bank accounts and added Wootton Cricket in the list of donors.
The matter of PTI being funded by the Abraaj Group has been reported for long though it has been vociferously denied. It was however pointed out that no money trail about such funding ever emerged but now the Financial Times has removed the lid providing a financial disclosure. It is reported that Wootton Cricket’s bank statement shows it received $1.3 million on 14 March, 2013 from Abraaj Investment Management Ltd. Later the same day, $1.3 million was transferred from the account directly to a PTI bank account in Pakistan and Abraaj expensed the cost to a holding company through which it controlled K-Electric, the power provider to Karachi. According to the bank statement, a further $2 million flowed into the Wootton Cricket account in April 2013 from Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al-Nahyan through Swift transfer system. It was further reported that Arif Naqvi then exchanged emails with a colleague about transferring $1.2 million more to the PTI and just six days after Naqvi transferred $1.2 million from it to Pakistan in two instalments. Rafique Lakhani, the senior Abraaj executive responsible for managing cash flow, wrote in an email to Arif Naqvi that the transfers were intended for the PTI.
The story of the Financial Times has quoted verbatim a flurry of emails about this matter that are quite intriguing as in one of them Arif Naqvi mailed Lakhani, the Abraaj executive responsible for cash flow, asking him not to tell anyone where funds are coming from. Also Lakhani proposed sending the money in two instalments to a personal account for businessman Tariq Shafi in Karachi and an account for an entity called the Insaf Trust in Lahore. Interestingly, Arif Naqvi gave a statement which was filed before the Election Commission that the money came from donations during a cricket match and the money was collected by him was sent through his company Wootton Cricket. Naqvi has acknowledged his ownership of Wootton Cricket and denied any wrongdoing yet the bank statement for Wootton Cricket tells a different story showing that Naqvi transferred three instalments directly to the PTI in 2013 adding up to a total of $2.12 million. Imran Khan has confirmed that Tariq Shafi donated money to the PTI but has insisted that it was up to Tariq Shafi to explain where the money came from. TW
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