Qaisar's Blog

The embassy of Pakistan in Japan (both the building of the embassy and the residence of the ambassador) was sold for 6.3 billion yen while the estimated value of only land was around 12 billion yen. The sale was done under a swap deal with a Japanese Real Estate Company, Nomura Estate, under the pretext, as declared by Ashgar Ali Golo, the then first secretary, that not more than three story building could be built on the land (situated in Motoazabu, Minato Ward, Tokyo). Now, the buyer is building seven story building there while the buyer has got approval of eight story building. The then ambassador Kamran Niaz approved the deal on the recommendation of a committee (constituted by him) consisting of his subordinate officers (first secretary, third secretary and defence attache). The new land was purchased at half of its market price as per the Japanese rules by the Govt of Pakistan from the Govt of Japan. The new land (situated in Minamiazabu, Minato Ward, Tokyo) was bought for about 4 billion yen (the full price was around 8 billion yen). According to the ambassador, the buyer company would build a new building of embassy and more than three story apartments but the question is if the construction and maintenance of the new building/premises worth 2.3 billion yen (6.3 – 4=2.3)? Secondly, why the old embassy was sold at the price less than half of the market price? How much money has beem embezzled by the embassy staff and the foreign office of Pakistan is yet to be known. The Pakistani community in Tokyo, Japan, staged a demonstration in front of the embassy on the alleged corruption and kickbacks involved in the deal. On April 14, 2009, the community representatives also presented their joint complaint to Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, on his visit to Tokyo to attend the Donor’s Conference but no enquiry into the alleged deal/sale has been held. It is alleged that the ambassador Kamran Niaz got kickbacks and invested the money in Aisha Steel Mill, Karachi, where the ambassador is now a director. Kamran was on extension of his service (one year extension) when he approved the sale of the embassy in 2007 and just after retirement in 2008, Kamran joined the steel mill as its director. In the past, the ambassadors like Tauqeer Hussain and Mujahid Hussain had refused to sell the embassy less than 20 billion yen. There are other questions surrounding the co-directors of the Aisha Steel Mill like Mr Haseeb. For instance, it is not clear from where he got US $49 million to invest in the Steel Mill to become its major share holder (49%). It is alleged that Haseeb was the front man acting for Kamran, as Haseeb has no profitable business in Japan to gather such a huge amount. It is also on record that Kamran was instrumental in arranging meetings of Haseeb with the former PM of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz. The Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly has taken notice of the scandal and asked the Foreign Office to explain its position within 15 days.

The sale scandal on the Royal TV

Part 1 and Part 2 are two subsections of the programme telecasted on Friday (08.01.2010) while Part 3 and Part 4 (11.01.2010) are the two subsections of the programme telecasted on Monday on Royal TV. Click on the links and watch the programs

 part 1
http://www.4shared.com/file/198132568/97816dbe/news_2_day_part_01.html

 part 2

http://www.4shared.com/file/197920038/614f48af/news_2_day_part_02_08012010.html

 part 3

http://www.4shared.com/file/198144765/7dff46a1/news_today_part_03.html

part 4

http://www.4shared.com/file/198020635/ca346981/news_today_part_04.html?err=no-sess