On Thursday, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) sold one already-sealed Bahria Town property and received conditional bids for two others, totaling Rs2.27 billion, during a long-awaited auction. However, the auction of three additional properties, owned by controversial real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, was postponed due to a \u201clack of qualifying bids.\u201d Despite being invited to cover the event, media representatives were barred from attending the actual proceedings, which took place behind closed doors at NAB\u2019s Rawalpindi\/Islamabad regional headquarters. After the auction concluded, journalists waiting in a separate room were provided with a handout summarizing the results. Outside the NAB office, dozens of private vehicles presumably belonging to potential bidders were seen parked, indicating significant interest in the high-profile auction. According to NAB\u2019s advertisement, six properties were scheduled to be auctioned. However, only three were sold: Rubaish Marquee fetched Rs508 million, while the bureau received conditional offers of Rs876m and Rs881.5m for two of the property developer\u2019s corporate offices. NAB claimed that Rubaish Marquee was auctioned at Rs20m above its reserved price of Rs488m, while the other two properties were sold at the reserved prices set by the bureau. A source in NAB told Dawn that the conditional offers for the two corporate offices were submitted as the bidders wanted to change the purpose of these premises in order to carry out other businesses at these venues. The remaining three properties Arena Cinema (reserve price Rs1.1bn), Bahria Town International Academy (Rs1.07bn), and Safari Club (Rs1.2bn), all located in Bahria Town, Rawalpindi will be auctioned later. No date has been announced yet for the next auction. NAB documents stated that the properties were auctioned due to a default of a plea bargain amount in a reference filed against Zain Malik, Malik Riaz\u2019s son-in-law and one of the owners of Bahria Town housing schemes. Malik Riaz is currently abroad and is reportedly avoiding arrest in other references filed against him, including the high-profile \u00a3190m Al-Qadir Trust case and the Bahria Town Karachi case. The auction followed the Islamabad High Court\u2019s dismissal on Tuesday of petitions filed against the sale of six Bahria Town properties in Rawalpindi and one in Islamabad, thus allowing NAB to proceed with the auction scheduled for August 7. Following the IHC go-ahead, Bahria Town approached the Supreme Court in a bid to restrain NAB from holding the auction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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