The key suspect in the rental power plants case – Laeeq Ahmed Sheikh, who is in National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) custody, has revealed some astonishing facts.
Sheikh confessed to have received kickbacks worth $350,000 for brokering a deal between the government of Pakistan and the Turkish power company Karkey Karadeniz Elektrik Uretim to address the power shortage in the country.
He has also confessed to being the front man of Babar Zulqarnain, son of former Azad Jammu and Kashmir president Raja Muhammad Zulqarnain.
The state suffered a penalty of $1 billion imposed by the International Committee for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Tribunal. Unearthing this scheme of corruption could save the state from the hefty penalty.
The information brought to light during NAB investigation is expected to have serious implications on the overall outcome of the ‘revision application’ filed by the government of Pakistan before the ICSID Tribunal for review of their decision.
The project was acquired through corrupt practices, adding that NAB, through an international council hired by Pakistan, has informed the ICSID Tribunal of revision application as there were kickbacks paid by Karkey to Babar, who further distributed over $5 million (received from Karkey). Sheikh also received $350,000 out of the same ill-gotten proceeds.
During investigation it was also revealed that the accused had an important role in the whole corruption scheme. His son-in-law Amir Malik was serving in Bank Sarasin, Dubai branch then, and was facilitating Babar and him. Sheikh’s daughter, Rabia Laeeq, who is the wife of Malik, had also received approximately one million dirhams in her own bank account in Dubai from Babar.
The brief facts of the case are that the accused Sheikh happens to be the brother-in-law (sister’s husband) of accused Babar. He is director of a British Virgin Island (BVI) offshore company Cannock Global Enterprises Ltd, which is maintaining an account No 6012852 in Bank Sarasin, Switzerland with the account title under the company’s name.
Investigation also revealed that the accused is involved in laundering proceeds of crime of Babar. Crime proceeds amounting to $365,000 were transferred by Babar from bank account No 060127894000 of his offshore company M/s Lead Burn Global Ltd to bank account No 6012852 of the BVI-based offshore company Cannock Global Enterprise Ltd. Laeeq being the director of the BVI-based offshore company is maintaining an account No 6012852 in Bank Sarasin, Switzerland.
Published by alaiwah
ALAIWAH'S PHILOSOPHY
About 12 years ago, while studying Arabic in Cairo, I became friends with some Egyptian students. As we got to know each other better we also became concerned about each other’s way of life. They wanted to save my soul from eternally burning in hell by converting me to Islam. I wanted to save them from wasting their real life for an illusory afterlife by converting them to the secular worldview I grew up with.
In one of our discussions they asked me if I was sure that there is no proof for God’s existence.
The question took me by surprise. Where I had been intellectually socialized it was taken for granted that there was none.
I tried to remember Kant’s critique of the ontological proof for God. “Fine,” Muhammad said, “but what about this table, does its existence depend on a cause?” “Of course,” I answered. “And its cause depends on a further cause?” Muhammad was referring to the metaphysical proof for God’s existence, first formulated by the Muslim philosopher
Avicenna.
Avicenna argues, things that depend on a cause for their existence must have something that exists through itself as their first cause. And this necessary existent is God. I had a counter-argument to that to which they in turn had a rejoinder. The discussion ended inconclusively.
I did not convert to Islam, nor did my Egyptian friends become atheists. But I learned an important lesson from our discussions: that I hadn’t properly thought through some of the most basic convictions underlying my way of life and worldview — from God’s existence to the human good.
The challenge of my Egyptian friends forced me to think hard about these issues and defend views that had never been questioned in the milieu where I came from.
These discussions gave me first-hand insight into how deeply divided we are on fundamental moral, religious and philosophical questions. While many find these disagreements disheartening, I will argue that they can be a good thing — if we manage to make them fruitful for a culture debate.
Can we be sure that our beliefs about the world match how the world actually is and that our subjective preferences match what is objectively in our best interest? If the truth is important to us these are pressing questions.
We might value the truth for different reasons: because we want to live a life that is good and doesn’t just appear so; because we take knowing the truth to be an important component of the good life; because we consider living by the truth a moral obligation independent of any consequences; or because we want to come closer to God who is the Truth. Of course we wouldn’t hold our beliefs and values if we weren’t convinced that they are true. But that’s no evidence that they are.
Weren’t my Egyptian friends just as convinced of their views as I was of mine? More generally: don’t we find a bewildering diversity of beliefs and values, all held with great conviction, across different times and cultures? If considerations such as these lead you to concede that your present convictions could be false, then you are a fallibilist.
And if you are a fallibilist you can see why valuing the truth and valuing a culture of debate are related: because you will want to critically examine your beliefs and values, for which a culture of debate offers an excellent setting.
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