Bahria Town Officials Convicted in Illegal Funds Transfer Case
ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad court on Thursday convicted three men, including a retired military officer and a senior Bahria Town official, in a foreign exchange case linked to the illegal transfer of funds abroad for Bahria Town projects.
The verdict was announced by Additional District and Sessions Judge Nasaruminallah Baloch after the court completed final arguments from the prosecution and defence. Each of the three convicts was sentenced to one year in prison and fined Rs500,000.
Those convicted were identified as Bahria Town Vice Chief Executive Colonel (retd) Khalilur Rehman, Imran Kaka, described in the proceedings as a hawala operator, and property dealer Mushtaq Ahmed. The court found that the accused had moved funds through unauthorised channels rather than the formal banking system.
The prosecution maintained that the transactions violated the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act because money was sent abroad through informal transfer networks for use in Bahria Town-related projects. The court accepted the prosecution’s position that the movement of funds bypassed legally permitted financial routes.
The case is significant because it adds another conviction to a series of legal and financial proceedings connected to Bahria Town and figures associated with the real estate group. It also highlights the state’s increasing focus on hawala, hundi and other informal mechanisms that can weaken financial transparency and regulatory control.
The latest ruling follows an earlier high-profile money laundering conviction involving Khalilur Rehman before the same judge. In that separate case, he was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs25 million after being found guilty of laundering around Rs1.6 billion.
According to the earlier judgment cited in court-related proceedings, the laundering case involved layered transactions and the use of third parties to hide the origin of funds. The court had described the scale and structure of those transactions as serious enough to justify a strong sentence because of the economic harm caused to society.
The wider investigation has also expanded beyond individual convictions. Earlier this week, the National Accountability Bureau took physical possession of Bahria Icon Tower in Karachi, a property estimated to be worth around Rs100 billion, as part of an ongoing anti-money laundering probe involving real estate tycoon Malik Riaz.
In May, accountability authorities also froze thousands of acres acquired for Bahria Town in Jamshoro district and additional high-value properties linked to the group. These actions show that investigators are pursuing both criminal accountability and asset-focused measures in cases involving suspected illegal financial flows.
For Pakistan, the ruling carries broader implications for the real estate sector, capital movement and the use of informal financial channels. The next stage will depend on appeals, enforcement of the sentence and the progress of linked investigations, but the conviction is likely to intensify scrutiny of large property transactions and offshore fund transfers.