The latest leaks reveal several prominent Pakistanis owning properties in Dubai’s upscale areas. This list includes political figures, former military officials, bankers, and bureaucrats, according to the OCCRP’s Dubai Unlocked project.
The total value of properties Pakistanis own is around $11 billion. The ‘Dubai Unlocked’ project provides a detailed overview of property ownership in Dubai, focusing on data from 2020 and 2022. It excludes properties purchased in the name of companies and those in commercial areas.
Read: Pakistani Elites Own $11 Billion in Dubai Properties
Notable Figures
Among the Pakistanis named in the Property Leaks are President Asif Ali Zardari’s three children, Hussain Nawaz Sharif, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s wife, Sharjeel Memon and family members, Senator Faisal Vawda, Farah Gogi, Sher Afzal Marwat, four MNAs, and half a dozen MPAs from Sindh and Balochistan assemblies.
The list also includes the late Gen Pervez Musharraf, former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, over a dozen retired generals, a police chief, an ambassador, and a scientist, all of whom own properties directly or through family members.
Omni Group’s CFO Aslam Masood and his wife are listed as owners of several properties. One was purchased for AED1,060,626 (Rs80 million) in March 2013.
Sohrab Dinshaw also owns a property in Dubai. In 2015, he purchased a villa for AED1,271,888 (Rs96 million).
Questions were sent to all individuals mentioned except Aslam Masood, who is deceased. None responded.
The Altaf Khanani network, sanctioned by the US for money laundering, appears on the list. His son, daughter, brother, and nephew own several properties in Dubai, with three facing sanctions. Another notable figure is Hamid Mukhtar Shah, a Rawalpindi-based physician sanctioned by the US for involvement in the kidnapping, detaining, and removing kidneys from Pakistani labourers. He owns numerous properties.
The Property Leaks also revealed that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s wife owns a Dubai property not declared in his Senate election nomination papers in March of this year. According to the data, she owns a five-bedroom villa in Arabian Ranches. She received AED600,000 (Rs45 million) in rental income from this villa, purchased in August 2017 for AED4,347,888 (Rs329 million). The villa remained in her ownership until April 2023, when it was sold for AED4,550,000 (Rs344 million).
