{"id":123740,"date":"2026-04-06T11:51:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=123740"},"modified":"2026-04-06T11:51:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:51:26","slug":"british-mps-under-fire-for-promoting-malik-riazs-dubai-project-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/123740\/","title":{"rendered":"British MPs under fire for promoting Malik Riaz\u2019s Dubai project: report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>LONDON(National Times)-  Three Pakistani-origin British members of parliament attended promotional events for a Dubai property, scheme own\u00aded by Pakistani real estate tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain and his son Ali Riaz Malik, both of whom cannot enter the United Kingdom and are being investigated by authorities in Pakistan, according to an investigation by\u00a0<em>The Sunday Times.<\/em> The MPs including Labour\u2019s Naz Shah and Afzal Khan along with independent Ayoub Khan spoke at roadshow events in June 2024 promoting the Waada project, a proposed 14m-sq-foot development in south Dubai that will feature luxury apartments, mansions, a five-star hotel and a replica Eiffel Tower. At one event, the property tyc\u00adoon and his son appeared via large screens, with Riaz Malik saying \u201cThe true measure of success is not what we build, but who we uplift.\u201d Mr 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 \u00a3190m to Britain\u2019s National Crime Agency following an unexplained wealth order investigation. The settlement included proceeds from the sale of a \u00a350m London mansion. The NCA returned the funds to Pakistan, but the repatriated amo\u00adunt became central to the corruption case against ex-premier Imran Khan. He was accused of allowing the money to pay off Bahria Town debts in alleged exchange for land and cash for himself and his wife, leading to his 14-year prison sentence. Mr Khan, detained since August 2023, maintains the charges are politically motivated. As Mr Riaz and his son have not been convicted of any criminal offe\u00adn\u00adces, they have characterised the NCA settlement as civil in nature and accused critics of mud-slinging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>UK entry banned<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In November 2021, the UK Court of Appeal\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1660730\">upheld<\/a>\u00a0the Home Office\u2019s decision to bar Malik Riaz and his son from entering Britain. Lady Justice Nicola Davies stated their exclusion was \u201cconducive to the public good\u201d due to their \u201cconduct, character and associations\u201d. The Pakistan government has since issued arrest warrants for several Bahria Town executives, including Shahid Mahmood Qur\u00adeshi, the company\u2019s head of global sales who led the UK roadshow. Islamabad has formally sought extradition of the father and son and warned the public that investing in the Dubai venture could constitute money-laundering. Despite this background,\u00a0<em>The Sunday Times<\/em>\u00a0report stated, the three parliamentarians attended promotional events over eight days in June last year. Afzal Khan, Labour MP for Rusholme and member of parliament\u2019s joint human rights committee, appeared at the roadshow launch at the Royal Nawaab Pyramid in Stockport on June 14. He praised the developers\u2019 \u201c30 plus years of experience\u201d and participated in a ceremonial procession alongside Qureshi. Ayoub Khan, independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, atten\u00added the Birmingham event at the Hyatt Regency the following day as \u201cguest of honour\u201d. He told atte\u00adndees that the people behind it were \u201cthose that created Bahria Town\u2026 there\u2019s a track record behind the organisation.\u201d Naz Shah, Labour MP for Brad\u00adford West, attended a gala finale in Mayfair, describing the company as having \u201ca successful reputation in Pakistan\u201d. All three appearances were used in promotional materials and advertisements for the Dubai project. Ayoub Khan was quoted in the report as saying he had \u201cno prior knowledge of any historical impropriety\u201d and has written to the company demanding removal of all references to him from promotional materials. He claimed he did not encourage constituents to invest. A spokesman for Naz Shah said she \u201cgets invited to attend many events by her constituents that relate to their Pakistani heritage and this was one of those events.\u201d Afzal Khan said he attended it \u201cbriefly after being invited by a local business person, not the organisers\u201d and did not endorse the company or promote the project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LONDON(National Times)- Three Pakistani-origin British members of parliament attended promotional events for a Dubai property, scheme own\u00aded by Pakistani real estate tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain and his son Ali Riaz Malik, both of whom cannot enter the United Kingdom and are being investigated by authorities in Pakistan, according to an investigation by\u00a0The Sunday Times. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>British MPs under fire for promoting Malik Riaz\u2019s Dubai project: report - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/123740\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"British MPs under fire for promoting Malik Riaz\u2019s Dubai project: report - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LONDON(National Times)- Three Pakistani-origin British members of parliament attended promotional events for a Dubai property, scheme own\u00aded by Pakistani real estate tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain and his son Ali Riaz Malik, both of whom cannot enter the United Kingdom and are being investigated by authorities in Pakistan, according to an investigation by\u00a0The Sunday Times. 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