Islamabad, (Samajweekly) A week after allegations were levelled against his familys assets, retired Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa said that he was stepping down as a Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) of Pakistan and would submit his resignation on Friday
However, Bajwa said he would continue working as chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority, reports Dawn news.
He said he had all documents about his family’s assets and was ready to present them and money trail before any judicial forum.
A few days ago, journalist Ahmed Noorani broke the news on a website alleging that Bajwa had used his offices in setting up of off-shore businesses of his wife, sons and brothers.
The report said Bajwa’s younger brothers opened their first Papa John’s pizza restaurant in 2002, the year he started working as a lieutenant colonel under former President Pervez Musharraf.
According to the news report, Nadeem Bajwa, who started as a delivery driver for the pizza restaurant franchise, his brothers and Asim Bajwa’s wife and sons now own a business empire which set up 99 companies in four countries, including a pizza franchise with 133 restaurants worth an estimated $39.9 million.
The news report further said that Bajwa’s wife was a shareholder in all the foreign businesses from the very beginning and at present she is associated with or is a shareholder in 85 companies including 82 foreign companies (71 in the US, seven in UAE and four in Canada).
Soon after the news surfaced, Asim Bajwa refuted the allegations about his family’s assets in strong words and termed them “incorrect and false”, Dawn news reported.
In a statement on Thursday, he rejected the allegations and said: “The news broken by Ahmed Noorani on an unknown website is vehemently denied as incorrect and false.
“I have not shied away to explain the allegations shamelessly levelled against me. These allegations have been hurled at me to tarnish my image.”
