NAB takes possession of Karachi's Bahria Icon Tower amid investigation against property tycoon Malik Riaz

ISLAMABAD:In a significant development in an ongoing anti-money laundering investigation against real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) took possession of Karachi’s Bahria Icon Tower on Monday after a Rawalpindi accountability court confirmed its provisional attachment.

The Bahria Icon Tower is one of Pakistan’s most prominent high-rise developments, and is regarded as the country’s tallest building.

According to NAB sources, the bureau’s investigation — conducted against M/s Galaxy Construction Private Limited among others — established that the construction of the property and the acquisition of the underlying land were sourced through the proceeds of crime, and constituted a property involved in money laundering.

On the basis of evidence collected during the investigation, NAB provisionally attached the Bahria Icon Tower under section 8 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010 (Attachment of property involved in money laundering).

Following the collection of further corroborative evidence establishing the money laundering offence and the property’s nexus with the proceeds of crime, an application for confirmation of the provisional attachment was filed before the Accountability Court in Rawalpindi. The court, through its order dated July 3, 2026, confirmed the attachment.

In execution of the court’s order, NAB on Monday took physical possession of Bahria Icon Tower, estimated to be worth around Rs100 billion, and handed over its custody and management to the local administration in accordance with the law, sources said.

The attachment and possession of this landmark property “represent a significant milestone in NAB’s efforts to identify, restrain, and recover assets linked to money laundering and proceeds of crime,” the sources said.

The bureau remained “steadfast in its commitment to investigating money laundering, tracing illicit assets, strengthening financial investigations, and ensuring that proceeds of crime are effectively restrained, confiscated, and recovered in accordance with the law,” they added.

In June, an accountability court on issued non-bailable warrants for the arrest of the controversial property tycoon Riaz, his son and others in the Bahria Town Karachi land grab case. Later in the month, it issued a 15-day freezing order on properties across the country

In May, NAB froze four more high-value properties of Bahria Town on the instructions of an accountability court. The development added on to NAB’s previous actions against Riaz, who is also an absconder in the £190m Al Qadir Trust Case.

The bureau attached the tower in Karachi’s Clifton area after investigations revealed that Rs8bn in crime proceeds had been laundered for its construction. The property was being held under a front company, M/s Galaxy Construction Pvt Ltd.

Similarly, the Bahria Town Tower on Tariq Road 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.

In 2020, the bureau filed a reference against Riaz and others for illegal allotment of the plot of land where the property was built. ...