South Asia Investor Review

A Pakistan-American franchisee has joined a Qatari-backed investor group's bid to buy out the US-based Papa John's Pizza restaurants chain. Nadeem Bajwa started his part-time job in 1991 as a pizza delivery driver for Papa John's while attending college in Indiana. He has since risen to become the largest franchisee with nearly 300 restaurants across the United States. Bajwa's backing could help Irth, which is also backed by Brookfield Asset Management, in its $47 a share pursuit of the pizza chain. Papa John's has been reviewing Irth's offer, though sources told Reuters there is no guarantee a deal gets done. Papa John's Largest Franchisee Nadeem Bajwa Bajwa’s journey wasn’t easy. In his early twenties, he was the first in his family to move to the United States, where he encountered many challenges upon arrival. “Coming to the U.S., actually, that was my first flight [ever.] I’d never flown before,” Bajwa told CNBC News . “Just getting into the plane, it w...

Forensic audit of Nawaz Sharif family's assets has put its value at $820.8 Million, according to Broadsheet Award ordered by arbitrator Sir Anthony Evans. It was disclosed in documents released by Broadsheet LLC and Pakistan government. The forensic audit was conducted by Stroz Friedberg audit firm based in the  United Kingdom . It was hired by Facebook to conduct forensic audit of Cambridge Analytica, the analytics firm used by US President Donald Trump during the 2016 election. Broadsheet Arbitration Award  Broadsheet LLC, incorporated in the Isle of Mann, was hired by Pakistan National Accountability Bureau (Bureau) in Year 2000 to uncover overseas assets hidden by over 200 Pakistanis including former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family. Pakistan was forced to go into arbitration for breach of contract with the firm.  Here are the key excerpts of the final award dated December 17, 2018: "Stroz Friedberg was instructed to carry out a ‘forensic audit’ (or ‘invento...

The role of money in elections and politics is generally known and understood around the world. Pakistan is no exception. In a recent book entitled "The Bhutto Dynasty" written by veteran British journalist Owen Bennet Jones, the author describes how former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto saw " kickbacks " as an essential part of politics. Jones says that  the "amnesty she (Benazir Bhutto) secured from General Musharraf scuppered a  Swiss trial  in which there was a very high chance she would have been convicted of, among other things, using money from bribes to buy a necklace worth $175,000".  The Bhutto Dynasty: Owen Bennet Jones has described in some detail how Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his daughter Benazir Bhutto saw the role of money in Pakistani politics. Here's an excerpt of Benazir's candid admission that "kickbacks must be taken": "In a surprisingly unguarded interview with the American Academy of Achievement in 2000 she (Benaz...

The latest leaks of US FinCEN (Financial Crime Enforcement Network) files show that the United Kingdom (UK) is the biggest  global center for money laundering . An earlier report issued by the British Crime Agency put Pakistan among the world's top sources of money laundering in the United Kingdom. The latest FinCEN leaks represent just the tip of an iceberg. The leaked 2,100 FinCEN files covering $2 trillion worth of transactions that ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) and Buzzfeed reporters got their hands on represent just a small sliver of the roughly 12 million SARs FinCEN has received since 2011. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has repeatedly raised the issue of the  West's inaction  in stopping the illicit flows of hard currencies from developing nations to the developed world. Money laundering and other financial crimes affect the economic roots of a nation like Pakistan and slow down its human and socioeconomic development. Fin...

Pakistani reporter Ahmad  Noorani has alleged  that CPEC Authority Chairman Asim Bajwa's wife Farrukh Zeba is a shareholder in Bajwa family business. Noorani, currently on Alfred Friendly fellowship in the United States,  further alleges  that the value of these holdings has been under-reported by General Asim Bajwa in his declaration of assets that he made recently in his position as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM).  What Bajwa family business is Mr. Noorani referring to? It is Bajco, a business that Asim Bajwa's brother Nadeem Bajwa built in the United States. Noorani has made multiple allegations of corruption against CPEC Authority Chairman Asim Bajwa. Of these allegations, the only one that may require further investigation is that General Asim Bajwa may have deliberately understated the value of his wife Farrukh Zeba's shares in Bajco, a company built by Asim Bajwa's brother Nadeem Bajwa who is a self-made millionaire. Undervaluing assets i...

Pakistani reporter  Ahmad Noorani has recently alleged  that "(T)he growth of the Bajwa family’s business empire in the United States and later in Pakistan directly matches the rise in power of retired general Asim Saleem Bajwa, who is now chairman of the country’s massive China-financed infrastructure project and a special assistant to the prime minister". “Out of total 99 companies, 66 are main companies, 33 companies are branch companies of some of the main companies, while five companies are dead now,” Ahmad Noorani alleges, adding that the businesses of the Bajwa family have been put under the umbrella called  Bajco Group . Noorani ignores many well-known Pakistani immigrant success stories in US restaurant franchise business and jumps to the conclusion that Nadeem Bajwa's success must be built on his brother's alleged corruption in Pakistan. Noorani does not offer any evidence to back up his allegations. Papa John's Franchisee Nadeem Bajwa Who is Nade...

What will be the impact of tragic terror attacks with mass casualties on Pakistan's July 25, 2018  general elections ? How does the current situation compare with the situation in 2013 elections? Will the elections proceed as scheduled? Pakistan Elections 2018 Forecast by  Intermarket and Exotix Investment Firms Which party is likely to get the most votes and parliamentary seats in Pakistan's July 25, 2018 general elections? Will one party get a clear majority? Who will form the new government? Is PTI Chief Imran Khan likely to be the next prime minister of Pakistan? Will it be a coalition government? How can a weak coalition government implement a radical reform agenda proposed by Imran Khan? Why did former prime minister of Pakistan Mr.  Nawaz Sharif , convicted recently by a Pakistani court on charges of having assets beyond income, come back to Lahore to face certain arrest? What is his strategy? What is Nawaz Sharif's future in Pakistani politics after ...

Guest Post by Rashid Ahmad. My thoughts on Nawaz Sharif (NS) verdict: 1. This decision, like all major decisions that involve national level politicians, will remain controversial as the people will look at this decision from their own perspectives. To Anti-NS folks he was guilty before the trial began, and it does not matter on which charge he is convicted, as long as he is knocked out. For those who support  Nawaz Sharif , he would never be guilty even if he is caught red handed. 2. The conviction was a foregone conclusion. It may be selective justice but the real reason was the accountability court, working under direct supervision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which, to many people, is not a neutral arbiter any more, but the “REAL PROSECUTOR”.  It is selective application of the law. 3. Although not comparing, this kind of motivated convictions are not uncommon. Pakistan’s illustrious judiciary has to its “credit” many infamous decisions: Doctrine of necessit...

Pakistan ranks among the top 10 countries in terms of tax revenue losses due to corporate tax avoidance, according to UN World Institute for Development Economics .  World Economic Forum estimates that the country lost $10.4 billion in taxes last year. Top 10 Tax Losers: The top 10 countries losing the most tax revenue in absolute terms as listed by the World Economic Forum are USA ($188.8 billion), China ($66.8 billion), Japan ($46.1 billion), India ($41.2 billion), Argentina ($21.4 billion), France ($19.8 billion), Germany ($15 billion), Pakistan ($10.4 billion), Indonesia ($6.5 billion) and the Philippines ($6.4 billion). Pakistan and Argentina top this list of 10 in terms of tax revenue lost as percentage of GDP.  Both lose 3.5% of their GDP in corporate tax avoidance, according to World Economic Forum. Tax Evasion at the Top: Tax evasion in Pakistan starts at the top. A large number politicians, including ministers and party leaders in the nation'...

Pakistan Elections Act 2017 passed by the National Assembly has removed the requirements for key disclosures relating to the ownership of assets, income taxes paid or owed, bank loan defaults, foreign residency (iqama) and  educational qualifications of the candidates for national and provincial legislatures in the upcoming elections. This came in October 2017 after several members of the national parliament were caught lying and subsequently disqualified by the courts under Articles 62 and 63 of Pakistan's constitution. Those  disqualified  include top politicians like former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of the PMLN party and PTI leader and parliamentarian Jahangir Tareen. Politicians Dominate Off-shore Company Owners in Panama Leaks   Nomination Disclosures: The nomination forms of candidates for national and provincial assemblies in Pakistan have been redesigned this year to remove all questions on assets, income taxes paid or owed, bank loan defa...