Saudi investors have petitioned the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to reprimand the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for failing to address the alleged misappropriation of Rs. 10.5 billion in foreign investor funds.
The investors, represented by White Crystals Limited (a subsidiary of Saudi firm Aljomaih Group), want IHC to force FIA to launch an extensive probe into the matter, reported TheNews.
The investors said they made a $10 million direct investment in the Infrastructure and Growth Capital Fund LP (IGCF), which indirectly invested in a publicly listed company on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. The IGCF sold a big chunk of its stake to Busicentco Incorporated for around Rs. 10.5 billion in 2021. The investors cited irregularities in the sale profits, alleging that these assets were transferred to a bank account maintained by a Mauritian firm partially controlled by IGCF-OGL, rather than being kept for the benefit of IGCF’s limited partners which include the complainants.
They argued that the sale profits were transferred under suspicious circumstances, with the application for repatriation submitted to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) being mysteriously withdrawn on instructions from the Mauritian company. This action, the investors claim, has jeopardized the interests of White Crystals Limited by removing all possibility of receiving any sale revenues outside of Pakistan.
The transferred funds are now held by DW Pakistan Private Limited (DWPL) which is majority-owned by Shaheryar Arshad Chishty. The investors have expressed concerns about the authenticity of the sale funds being retained in DWPL’s bank account under an escrow arrangement.
The investors claim that several offenses, including illegal theft of property and cheating, may have occurred, and that the FIA has the authority to inquire and investigate such offenses under the Federal Investigation Agency Act of 1974. They also claim that if the transfers contravene SBP regulations or entail offenses, they may amount to money laundering under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2010.
White Crystals Limited has moved the IHC, demanding its intervention to compel the FIA to evaluate their complaint and initiate a complete inquiry, emphasizing their rights as foreign investors and their requests for reparation and justice.
