Pakistan: SECP deletes records of five of six companies owned by Asim Bajwa's family members

The five companies whose data were deleted belonged to the general’s sons, whereas the one company whose data remained throughout on the website belongs to the general’s brothers, Fact Focus reported.

The online records of the five companies were restored on the SECP website weeks later, after the tampering was reported by FactFocus on Thursday, Aug. 27. The government agency is responsible for regulating all companies in Pakistan and its work is expected to be independent of political influence, reported the news report.

SECP Chairman Amir Khan has reportedly declined to comment when asked if he knows who changed the records on the website and whether that person was ordered to make the changes.

Lieutenant General (retired) Asim Saleem Bajwa last week decided to resign from his post as the special assistant to the prime minister on information and broadcast after an investigative report alleged corruption scams against him.

However, Bajwa said he will continue as the chairman of the China Pakistan Economic Authority (CPEC) Authority.

Releasing a statement, Bajwa rejected all allegations leveled against him and called them 'baseless'.

"I strongly rebut the baseless allegations levelled against me and my family. Alhamdolillah another attempt to damage our reputation belied/exposed. I have and will always serve Pakistan with pride and dignity," he tweeted.

This selective resignation by Bajwa, who issued a press release on Thursday categorically denying allegations of financial misappropriation as a senior military officer over the past two decades, not only weakens his own rebuttal, it adds more credence to calls for a change in leadership of the CPEC Authority. But even that half-baked decision to step down has been unraveled by Prime Minister Imran Khan’s “refusal” to accept the resignation, The Diplomat reported.

With millions of dollars’ worth of financial misappropriation already uncovered in the economic corridor that is still under construction, it makes little sense for CPEC to be spearheaded by an individual accused of such large-scale corruption. But common sense usually takes a backseat whenever questions centering around the army are posed in Pakistan, the online news magazine reported.

Speaking on CPEC, the magazine said, "The visions of the Chinese leadership and Pakistan Army align seamlessly. They both seek to appropriate Pakistan’s resources to grow their own neoliberal empires. CPEC itself links Xinjiang and Balochistan, the hubs of multipronged abuses carried out by China and Pakistan, respectively."

The Diplomat described the CPEC project as a 'holy cow' that could not be questioned in Pakistan.

In his investigative report published in Fact Focus earlier, journalist Ahmad Noorani claimed: "The 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."