Interpol has issued red notices for property tycoon Malik Riaz, his son: NAB chief

Lead

Interpol has issued Red Notices against Bahria Town owner Malik Riaz and his son Ali Riaz, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmed said on Wednesday. A red notice is a request to law enforcement agencies by Interpol to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. The NAB chairman made the remarks during a briefing on the bureau’s performance. He said the NAB was sending a team for the extradition of both Riaz and his son. This could not be independently verified through Interpol.

Coverage Comparison

Dawn reported the Interpol development in multiple articles, with the earliest being a brief factual alert. Later articles provided more context, including that Riaz, 72, is the founder and chairman of Bahria Town, while his 48-year-old son serves as chief executive. In 2019, the pair agreed to forfeit £190 million to Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) following an unexplained wealth order investigation. The settlement included proceeds from the sale of a £50 million London mansion. The NAB had started the process to extradite Riaz and his son from the UAE in January 2025. In August 2025, amidst legal troubles and ahead of planned auctions of Bahria Town properties, Riaz called for “dialogue and a dignified solution”.

Dawn also covered separate NAB actions. One report detailed the freezing of four high-value Bahria Town properties on the instructions of an accountability court. Another reported the recovery of 80 acres of government land in Hyderabad. Both stories were published by Dawn on May 8th, 2026.

Key Claims

The Interpol Red Notices against Malik Riaz and Ali Riaz were announced by NAB Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmed. A red notice is defined as a request to law enforcement agencies to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. The NAB is sending a team for their extradition. This claim could not be independently verified through Interpol.

In 2019, Riaz and his son agreed to forfeit £190 million to Britain’s National Crime Agency following an unexplained wealth order investigation. The settlement included proceeds from the sale of a £50 million London mansion.

The NAB had started the process to extradite Riaz and his son from the UAE in January 2025. Riaz is an absconder in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

In a separate action, NAB Karachi froze four more high-value properties of Bahria Town on the instructions of an accountability court. The action was carried out under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010. The properties attached include Bahria Icon Tower in Clifton, Karachi, where investigations revealed that Rs8 billion in crime proceeds had been laundered for its construction. The property was being held under a front company, M/s Galaxy Construction Pvt Ltd. The Bahria Town Tower on Tariq Road, Karachi, was attached after it was established that the project was held in the name of Muhammad Awais, a “benami” frontman for Malik Riaz Hussain and M/s Bahria Town. Additionally, 817 kanals of prime land in Sheikhupura and 2,029 kanals of land in Peshawar intended for Bahria Town Peshawar, owned by M/s Lifestyle Development (SMC) Pvt Ltd, were attached. Both entities have been identified as front companies used to facilitate the laundering of illicit funds. Sources in the NAB said the action followed investigations that established that these assets were purchased through the laundering of crime proceeds.

In another development, NAB Karachi announced the recovery of 80 acres of government land illegally allotted to Bahria Town in the Gulshan-i-Sarmast housing scheme in Hyderabad’s Deh Ganjo Takkar. The land worth Rs6 billion was located in a prime area of Hyderabad district. According to a press release, Bahria Town got possession of the land through illegal allotment against Rs383 million, which was also defaulted. The land was intended for the establishment of a university. The Hyderabad Development Authority cancelled the allotment and possession with forfeiture of the partially paid amount by Bahria Town.

Last week, an accountability court issued perpetual arrest warrants against Malik Riaz, his son, and others in the Bahria Town Karachi (BTK) land grab case. The court declared them ‘proclaimed offenders’ and directed the investigating officer to arrest them and produce before the court as well as to block their passports. The court also issued warrants against Zain Malik, Ahmed Baksh Narejo, and others.

NAB had filed a reference in 2025 against Bahria Town owners, senior PPP leaders, and government officials for allegedly converting, exchanging, and transferring government land to Bahria Town for its projects in Karachi. The reference alleges that the accused, acting in connivance, grabbed around 17,000 acres of public property under the grab of adjustment/exchange/consolidation in 2013-14, causing a colossal loss of over Rs708.08 billion to the national exchequer. An inquiry was initiated by NAB in 2015 and upgraded to an investigation in 2016.