Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday refused to accept the resignation of Asim Saleem Bajwa, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information and Broadcasting, who offered to leave his post after allegations about his family’s overseas businesses. The prime minister expressed satisfaction with the evidence and explanation given by Lt Gen (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa and asked him to continue working as his special assistant on information and broadcasting.
Why did Asim Bajwa resign?
Asim Bajwa decided to step down as premier’s aide after refuting allegations of assets concealment in a long rebuttal shared on Twitter. However, he added that he would continue to serve as the chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority, keeping his “focus on CPEC” – linked with Pakistan’s socio-economic prosperity.
What were the allegations?
A news report published on August 27, 2020, alleged that Asim Bajwa had used his offices in setting up offshore businesses of his wife, sons and brothers. It claimed that “His brother “Nadeem Bajwa, who started as a delivery driver for the pizza restaurant franchise, his brothers and Asim Bajwa’s wife and sons now own a business empire which set up 99 companies in four countries, including a pizza franchise with 133 restaurants worth an estimated $39.9 million.”
Bajwa denies ‘baseless allegations’
Almost a week after the scandalous report was published, former military spokesman issued a detailed rebuttal, saying he was ready to present all the document about his family’s assets and the money trail or any evidence before any judicial forum. “I strongly rebut the baseless allegations levelled against me and my family... I have and will always serve Pakistan with pride and dignity” Bajwa said.
In his rebuttal:
- He vehemently denied any connection of businesses, owned by his brothers and children, to his military position and called it “materially false”.
- He clarified that on the date of filing of the declaration, his wife “was no longer an investor or shareholder in any business abroad”, adding that from 2002 to June 2020, the total out-of-pocket investment made by his wife in the companies of his brothers in the US had been $19,492.”
- On the “alleged investment of businesses” of his brothers in the Papa John’s pizza chain, he said the news story asserted a ‘false claim that Bajco owned 99 companies”. “There are a total of 27 active companies in the US and two in the UAE,” he justified.
- During the last 18 years, “my brothers purchased the franchise and assets…to the tune of $70 million, out of which around $60 million were through bank loans and financial facilities.”
- About the Silkline Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd, that the report claim was established by his brothers to acquire CPEC contracts, Bajwa said the company had never acquired any CPEC contract and that it only “provided human resources to industries in Rahim Yar Khan.”
- On the allegations against his sons, he explained that two companies Scion Builders and Estates Pvt. Ltd and Advance Marketing (Pvt) Ltd are dormant. He acknowledged that his son owns Mochi Cordwainers and also 50% shares in Himalaya Pvt. Ltd.
- About the Krypton company (dealing in mines and minerals) that the news report claimed was registered by one of his sons when he was posted in Balochistan, Bajwa elucidated that the FBR-registered company is dormant and has not done any business.
- On the claims that Scion Management Group, owned by his sons, possessed a house in the US, he said it is “a small house” bought for $31,000 in a cheap foreclosure proceedings and the amount is justified by my two sons”. One of his sons, he said, bought a house in the US acquired through mortgage (80% remain unpaid). “All my sons are above 18 years and none are my dependents… [and have] completed their business degrees from reputable universities in the United States and have had well-paying jobs.”
- He added that of his five brothers, two were qualified doctors; one had worked up to the position of a vice president in a US bank; one had made his way to the position of a controller of a restaurant operating company; and one had been an operating partner of a restaurant chain, before starting their businesses in 2002.
