Pakistan Orders Probe Into Leak After Report on Army Chief’s Family Wealth

Ismail Dilawar
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Pakistan ordered an investigation into an alleged leak of confidential tax documents after an online news portal published a report about army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s family amassing property worth billions of rupees during his term in office.

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Finance Minister Ishaq Dar “has taken serious notice of the illegal and unwarranted leakage of tax information of the family members of General Qamar Javed Bajwa,” according to a statement released by the Finance Ministry on Monday. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s special assistant on revenue Tariq Mehmood Pasha will investigate the matter and submit a report in 24-hours, it said.

The order came after the Fact Focus news portal reported Bajwa’s family members became billionaires since his appointment to the powerful post in 2016. Reporting on military matters is considered extremely sensitive in the South Asian nation, where the institution holds great power over elected governments. The army has ruled Pakistan directly for almost half its independent history since its creation in 1947.

Bajwa’s wife and other family members made investments in real estate and the oil business and transferred funds overseas since he took charge of the army, Ahmad Noorani, a Pakistani journalist who lives in the US, reported.

Inter-Services Public Relations, the army’s media wing, referred Bloomberg to the Finance Ministry statement when reached for comment.

Bajwa is set to retire on Nov. 29 after six years in office.

Two years ago, retired general Asim Saleem Bajwa resigned as special assistant to then Prime Minister Imran Khan after the same website reported his family piled up wealth in the US including owning franchises of Papa John’s International Inc. He had denied any wrongdoing.

--With assistance from Abhay Singh.

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