American law enforcement agencies are investigating two Pakistani American businessmen and their associates over suspected money laundering, wire fraud and tax evasion for allegedly setting up dodgy company structures to launder the proceeds of purported black money, according to investigators involved in the case.
Federal authorities investigating the case in the US have confirmed that two companies: Riceland Investment Group LP (a Texas limited partnership) and Mecca Farms Group LLC (a Texas limited liability company) are being investigated for allegedly setting up complex and questionable structures to avoid paying taxes and launder suspected black money for the benefit of the individuals running and controlling these companies.
Texas-based Syed Rashid Ali originally set up Riceland Investment Group. In 2015, it allegedly entered into a dubious partnership with the Mecca Farms Group, owned by businessman and former advisor to the Interim Prime Minister of Pakistan, Muhammad Tahir Javed from Texas. The partnership allegedly granted Javed full ownership of Riceland Investment Group and gave him 51% control of Mecca farms.
Complicated matter
According to the US investigators, however, the matter may not be as simple as it seems on paper.
Syed Rashid Ali, his brother Syed Shahid Ali and Javed have a history of falling foul of American laws, including a high-profile probe into an alleged $35 million COVID-19 relief scheme scandal involving the US Justice Department.
Javed, who has also served as a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader in the US, has previously alleged to have been involved in a murder plot involving a close relative of his in Pakistan. Javed denies the allegation.
Javed's professional career has been marred with controversy. Last year, he was removed as the advisor to Interim Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar just days after his appointment, after it emerged that Javed had previously been convicted of a felony in the US that he had not declared to Pakistani authorities.
Riceland Investment Group and Mecca Farms
Evidence gathered by American investigators suggests that Javed had allegedly agreed to purchase 55% membership/ownership/interest in Mecca Farms on a fully diluted basis with the ownership interest in Mecca Farms for $2.465 million.
The purchase price to be paid at the closing of the contract was $500,000, while "the balance will be paid as and when needed by Mecca Farms within five (5) days of the date on which Mecca Farms requests such amounts".
Investigators believe that this scheme was a hoax.
According to the documents obtained by investigators, Javed allegedly claimed to have paid $200,000 of the total purchase price. The balance of $2.245 million has yet to be paid.
The federal investigators - who suspect that the deal is linked with the alleged cover-up of the $35 million COVID-19 relief scheme scandal - say Ali allegedly conspired with Javed.
The takeover agreement, reportedly made by Javed and which would see him take over as the chairman of the Board of Managers, would see a board consisting of managers and members, mostly from Houston, that include: Mohammad Shahid Javed; M. Israr Ahmad; Dr Amir-ul Islam; Syed Rashid Ali; Sayed Hamed; Syed Shahid Ali; Shaista J Ali; Soraya Harris; Syed Shahid Ali; Naghman Shaikh; Hassouneh Maher Ezzuddin; Tahira Faiz Ahmed; Francisco Bernal; Danish Hussain/Fraz Hussain/Faiza Hussain; Mobin Khan; Faraz Hussain; Kalesha Skaik; Sujath Ali Syed; Keith Mohammad; Tarek Al-Kadri; and Khalida Siddiqui.
American authorities believe that the structure established for Mecca Farms raises suspicions and grounds for further investigations.
Brothers Syed Rashid Ali and Syed Shahid Ali and the brothers Tahir Javed and Shahid Javed are allegedly involved in the scheme. Shahid Ali and Shahid Javed have been partners in several financial deals in the past, and the authorities are investigating their past dealings.
What led to the probe?
Investigators say the probe is linked to the $35 million COVID-19 relief scheme corruption scandal of December 2021, in which a federal grand jury in Houston had charged and sentenced several individuals for fraudulently obtaining and laundering millions of dollars under the forgivable Paycheck Protection Programme (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
In total, 15 individuals across two states were charged in the conspiracy. According to court documents, Syed Shahid Ali (from Sugar Land, Texas) allegedly conspired with others to submit more than 80 false and fraudulent PPP loan applications by falsifying the number of employees and the average monthly payroll expenses of the applicant businesses.
In total, the defendants sought over $35 million in PPP loans and obtained approximately $18 million in PPP loan proceeds. They then committed wire fraud, theft, money laundering, and embezzlement.
The indictment alleged that the defendants laundered a portion of the fraudulent loan proceeds by writing cheques from companies that received PPP loans to fake employees.
The investigators claimed that, per the charges, some of those who received the cheques were the defendants and their relatives. Even before going to trial, almost all of the accused pleaded guilty to their involvement in the scheme of wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft.
The investigators say the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force—established by the Attorney General in May 2021—marshalled the Department of Justice's resources in partnership with agencies across the government to prosecute the alleged fraud. They added that the accused are also helping the federal investigators in this probe, focussing on the Javed brothers, the Ali brothers, and their accomplices.
The documents show that Sayed Shahid Ali allegedly took a loan of $566,778 and $522,800 through Riceland. He claimed he offered free Covid shots to the community through his hospital, and the federal government paid him $35 per patient. The investigators accused Tahir Javed and Shahid Ali of working in cahoots and that Shahid Ali allegedly took an indictment on him to protect his partner, Tahir Javed.
A murder in Pakistan
Thousands of miles away in the Toba Tek Singh District of Punjab, Pakistan, authorities are investigating the 2008 murder of a poor villager.
Wahab Anwar, son of Anwar Ahmad, of village 308 GB of Tehsil Pir Mahal in Toba Tek Singh was killed in broad daylight. A handsome villager, his parents had sent him to Lahore in early 2008 to work for Javed and his wife, Rubina Javed, at their home.
Suspecting an affair, Javed allegedly shot Wahab Anwar, who died three days later succumbing to a gunshot. A case for the murder was registered but Javed allegedly reconciliated with the victim's father after paying a significant sum as compensation. Javed also allegedly had the victim's sister marry his nephew (sister's son) and ensured the bride arrived in Texas shortly after the marriage.
Under Pakistani law, blood money can be paid to avoid a conviction, provided the victim's heir(s) agree to forgive the accused. Currently, the victim's sister lives in Jefferson County in the City of Beaumont.
Senior Pakistani investigators are allegedly reviewing the murder case after Javed's fraud and criminality were exposed in the Pakistani and international press.
These reports, together with information about Javed's past conviction in the US, also resulted in his removal as the "Special Assistant on Investment" to former caretaker premier Anwarul Haq Kakar.
Kakar's office formed a committee to probe the matter, and it found that Javed had allegedly concealed his felony and fraud convictions in the US when he became Kakar's advisor in October 2023.
Suspecting that Javed had lied about his credentials, the committee recommended his removal, and he was sacked just a few weeks later.
Reports allegedly prepared by Pakistan's intelligence agencies and submitted to PM Kakar reportedly said Javed had campaigned for Imran Khan and the PTI while the party was in power, but he later became a fierce critic of Imran Khan - calling Imran Khan a failure as a prime minister whose only claim to fame was his celebrity status as a cricketer. This was believed to be done to pave the way for Javed to join Kakar's cabinet. The intelligence report also found that Javed had pledged publicly to donate $50,000 to former army chief General (rtd) Qamar Javed Bajwa's fund for flood victims in 2020, but the cheque allegedly bounced.
Convicted in the US
Texas court records show Javed was sentenced to five years of deferred imprisonment for felony theft in 1994. The Texas Jefferson County's District Criminal Court data records Muhammad Tahir Javed's felony theft as "Cause: 56447; offence date: September 25, 1990, Beaumont Texas; filing date: November 5, 1990; offence description, theft by receiving; probation amount: 5; and description: P/G Judge; and Deferred Completed: March 28, 1994."
In July 2017, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned Javed of criminal prosecution, seizure, or injunction. The warning was issued regarding Royal Smoke LL, an online purveyor of tobacco and tobacco-related products. At the same time, Royal Smoke was subjected to government intervention.
The government additionally cautioned Javed against labelling and advertising outside the scope of the law and, barring corrective measures, could face criminal prosecution.
Continuing his career in public life, Javed announced his candidacy for the Fort Bend County Precinct 3 Position in 2023. However, a Texas Ethics Commission investigation (case SC 32306211) forced him to back out.
Of interest to law enforcers for years
American law enforcers stated that Javed's conduct had made him interesting to US authorities for several years now.
In 2018, Javed ran for a Congressional seat in Houston but lost at the primary stage. Investigators reveal that Javed's election campaign is also being probed for allegedly attempting to illegally shift the domicile of many of his family members and friends to the district he was contesting from to increase his vote bank.
Informed sources further revealed that Javed allegedly made several dubious entries during his campaign to move funds from his company, Riceland, and then pay back to him under filing FEC-1209534, documents showing that Javed contributed $100,000 and $25,918 to his campaign.
Another document allegedly showed Javed contributing $553,416 in February 2018. Later, documents revealed that under the Political Action Committee (PAC) and Super PAC contributions, Tahir Javed lent money to his own company, Riceland HealthCare, to the tune of $1,304,556.
Furthermore, on December 31, 2018, Javed forgave a loan of $250,000 to himself from the campaign funds. Investigators flagged these activities as highly suspicious, signalling high level money laundering.
A year later, in 2019, Javed allegedly tried to make up for the losses by committing insurance fraud. Federal investigators are now probing how Javed allegedly used his own hospital and had family members go through multiple "surgeries" and then have them billed to insurance companies.
Interestingly, on the day when his family's surgery was scheduled, social media allegedly showed them attending a social event which gave rise to suspicions.
If proven guilty, Javed could be slapped with another felony, which may impact his naturalised US citizenship apart from being handed a prison term of up to 15 years.
Investigators are also looking at another controversy involving a Pakistan Super League team, Lahore Qalandars, which features a new financial scandal involving Rs500 million ($1.8 million). According to court papers filed in the State of Texas at Jefferson County, Javed and his company TJ Properties (SMC-Private) Limited allegedly failed to fulfil contractual obligations to sell plots in a residential society in Pakistan.
Court papers show Javed and his company, along with Realtor Nine Limited, allegedly entered into an agreement earlier this year with Qalandars Marketing (Private) Limited as joint venture partners for the marketing and sales rights as Titanium Partner of Qalandars City Project located on the Lahore-Islamabad motorway at Kot Abdul Malik Interchange.
Javed and his partners allegedly agreed that the joint venture partners would design and plan the sales strategy for different markets, including the UK, USA, and the Middle East, and implement it for marketing. Legal documents show that Javed and Realtor Nine Limited allegedly failed to make the payment as agreed in the binding contract and failed to fulfil any contractual obligation that they had agreed to in the 17-page contract.
The case proceeded in a Texan court as well as in Pakistan. After Lahore Qalandars hired a law firm in Houston, Javed reportedly withdrew his lawsuit and also apologised to avoid a lawsuit.
Lawyers acting for Lahore Qalandars have said they are considering further legal steps.
Sources claim that American federal agents have also communicated with Pakistani authorities regarding this case; however, they did not elaborate on the progress made in the investigation.
Sources close to Tahir Javed and Syed Ali confirmed that federal investigating agencies were in touch with them, but they announced that they intended to fully defend the case. They claimed it was unfortunate that the new investigation was linked to the $35 million COVID-19 relief fraud.