Month: September 2024

Pakistan’s unprecedented arrest and court-martial of a former spy chief raises the heat on Imran Khan and could be the precursor to prosecuting the jailed former prime minister on charges of treason and attempting to incite a mutiny in the military. 

Imran Khan has been feuding with Pakistan’s all-powerful military after a falling out with then-army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa in 2022, following which he was ousted from office in a parliamentary vote that he said was orchestrated by the generals.

The military has denied any involvement in his ouster. Khan has been public about the clash, which has led to the worst political turmoil in the South Asian nation in decades. The 71-year-old former cricket star has a devoted following, and any further military action against him could result in more unrest.

Supporters of Khan went on the rampage on May 9 last year after he was briefly arrested, vandalising military installations across the country. It was the most serious challenge to the power of the military in Pakistan’s 75-year history.

Khan is on trial in a civilian court for allegedly abetting the violence, a charge he has denied. But he can face more serious charges of treason and mutiny after last month’s arrest of Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, a Khan ally who is a former chief of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence.

Treason and mutiny are tried by military court. Such trials are not open to the public, and the charges carry a maximum punishment of death.

The arrest of Faiz Hameed signals the potential prosecution of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on charges of treason and incitement to rebellion.

More on this story: Political turmoil in Pakistan: future scenarios

The conflict between Khan and the military began after a falling-out with General Qamar Javed Bajwa in 2022, which led to Khan’s ouster as prime minister. Despite this, Khan, who remains a popular political figure, asserts that the military orchestrated his removal.

The publication notes that Hameed’s arrest may increase pressure on Imran Khan, who is already under investigation for inciting unrest following his brief detention in May 2023.

We suggest that Hameed’s arrest is part of an effort to bolster the charges against Khan, who has so far managed to avoid more serious accusations.

Thus, the arrest will be used to put pressure on Faiz Hameed to provide information that helps implicate Khan in the May 9 violence which the army chief sees as mutiny and an act of treason. Government officials have repeatedly said Hameed worked with Khan to plan the riots. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told last month that Khan provided the manpower while Hameed masterminded the conspiracy. 

Current army chief General Asim Munir said that there could be no compromise or deal with the planners and architects of this dark chapter in history of Pakistan.

According to Imran Khan, Hameed’s arrest was meant to ultimately target him as other cases against him were falling part.

“He thinks that government is trying his  case in a military court.

Hameed is being tried by court-martial on charges of corruption, misuse of power in service and violation of the Army Act after his 2022 retirement. The charges are punishable by a jail sentence of up to 14 years.

The retired officer is also accused of transgressing legal and constitutional boundaries for his personal interest at the behest of some particular political elements. 

Khan handpicked Hameed in 2019 as ISI chief, one of the most powerful positions in Pakistan, at the intersection of domestic politics, the military and Pakistan’s foreign relations. 

Hameed’s transfer from the ISI to a corps command two years later, which Khan initially opposed, highlighted the first public signs of divisions between Khan and Bajwa, the then army chief.

Khan has acknowledged in interviews to local media that he wanted Hameed to remain as the head of the ISI in 2021, when he said the opposition was planning to oust him.

Hameed’s arrest came after a string of legal victories for Khan in civilian courts, despite allegations by several senior judges, in a letter to the chief justice that was published in local media, of pressure to decide cases against the former premier.

While the military denies pressurising judges, the allegations have put the two institutions at loggerheads.

It would be in the interest of the army’s top brass to hold a trial under military law since that would “forestall any judicial intervention” in support of Kha.

 Media are not allowed at military trials, and verdicts are announced in short statements from the military without details of evidence.

Military courts are secretive and their procedures arcane.

The army, by trying one of its own, was demonstrating it is not ready to provide any space to Khan, who won the most seats in a national election earlier this year despite being in jail.Imran Khan’s trial by a military court would signal the army leadership’s resolve to eliminate Khan from the political scene no matter how high the cost.

More on this story: The Politics of the February 8, 2024, General Elections in Pakistan

More on this story: Pakistani ISI strengthens political influence in the country by lobbying for the legislation amendments 

More on this story: Pakistani ISI head replacement might speak for China’s growing foothold amid developments in Afghanistan

Documents obtained as part of a new case against social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate, who have been charged with human trafficking, money laundering and organized crime, deepen questions over their opaque webcam finances.

On Aug. 21, Romanian police raided the homes of the brothers and some of their associates and arrested the pair. The recent allegations list 35 victims and accuse Andrew Tate of trafficking a minor for sexual exploitation and having sexual relations with another minor.

The brothers are also accused of seeking to intimidate and corrupt witnesses to stop them from giving evidence to prosecutors or to pressure them to give false evidence. Two other accomplices are also accused of interfering with the investigation. The prosecutors seized 16 cars and a motorcycle from the Tates, according to a press release.

• Recommended reading

EUROPE

Adult webcam platform paid $2.6m into controversial influencer Tristan Tate’s bank account, leaked documents show

May 07, 2024

PARTNER STORIES

Sex-trafficking survivors are increasingly suing to hold hotel chains liable for abuse on their properties, new investigation finds

Aug 01, 2023

Africa

How torture, deception and inaction underpin the UAE’s thriving sex trafficking industry

Jun 12, 2023

The day after the raid, a judge placed Tristan Tate on bail and Andrew Tate on house arrest pending further pre-trial hearings. The same judge also warned that the evidence of money laundering was insufficient in the prosecutors’ case, according to local media. A spokesperson for DIICOT, Romania’s law enforcement unit dedicated to investigating organized crime, declined to comment.

The Tate brothers and two of their associates are currently awaiting trial on separate  charges of human trafficking from 2023; in that case, Andrew Tate was also charged with rape.

The brothers and their alleged accomplices have denied wrongdoing in both cases. A spokesperson for the Tates declined to comment for this article.

EVERY ACCUSATION AGAINST ME IS A LIE.

EVERY SINGLE ONE IS FABRICATED.

ENOUGH OF THE CORRUPTION. pic.twitter.com/3nlGxDJHbV

— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) August 22, 2024

ICIJ and Romanian partner Context previously reported on Tristan Tate’s account with Paxum, a Canadian company that catered to the adult entertainment industry later purchased by Paxum Bank, a small Caribbean financial institution. The firms shared the name Paxum and similar website branding.  The mother of Paxum Bank’s owner, Anton Postolnikov, was also one of the owners of Paxum Inc., according to Romanian media reports.

Using Tristan Tate’s leaked banking records, ICIJ found that an adult webcam platform deposited a total of $2.6 million into Tate’s Paxum account until shortly before he and his brother were charged with human trafficking. Andrew was also charged with raping one of the women he allegedly trafficked.

As part of the most recent investigation, prosecutors obtained transcripts of text messages and phone conversations that shed further light on the pair’s use of their Paxum account in what was allegedly a complex online webcam business running since at least 2015. Due to stringent anonymity rules, ICIJ could not establish if the women mentioned in the prosecutors’ transcripts are also among the 35 victims in the new set of allegations.

According to the transcripts, on Oct. 23, 2019, Andrew Tate texted his brother to ask about a “missing payment. Paxum? The October 15 payment.” Tristan Tate replied: “it could be a large payment. A double payment is coming up.” (ICIJ translated the relevant exchanges from the transcripts from Romanian to English, based on the prosecutors’ own translation of the Tates’ original English conversation. ICIJ’s translation may not exactly match the original conversation, which was not presented in court.)

On the same day — in an exchange found elsewhere in the wiretap transcripts — Tristan told his brother that one of the women who worked for them “asked to see what is in the bank account. It all goes in at the same time through Paxum. 15,000 went in from all three girls,” he added, without specifying the currency.

We’ll open accounts at all the banks. We’ll spread the money.

— Andrew Tate in wiretap transcripts

An ICIJ review of Tristan Tate’s Paxum account statements shows that multiple payments from webcam platform MFCXY were made to the Paxum account in the weeks leading up to the conversation. On Oct. 1, 2019, three payments of $5,180.95, $9,634.20 and $5,407 were deposited, followed by one payment of $7,034.15 on Oct. 21, 2019.

On Nov. 11 the same year, according to one transcript, Andrew asked Tristan: “Has the video cam money arrived? Paxum? Has it arrived at Paxum only a few days ago? How much was the money from video cam?” A payment of $18,785.15 from MFCXY hit Tristan Tate’s account on Nov 4., 2019, the leaked files show.

The wiretap transcripts circulated by the prosecution, coupled with the account activity reviewed by ICIJ, suggest that Tristan Tate may have been using the Paxum account to collect webcam income from multiple women in his employ. The transcripts appear to show the brothers agreeing to keep a portion of the income the women earned in the Tates’ webcam business.

When Tristan complains that one of the women is demanding a 40% share of her earnings from webcam shows, Andrew tells him to “shoot her” or “falsify” the account statements for their crypto holdings, or “give her 30 and tell her it’s 40, blame the currency exchange rate” — implying that the women did not have access to the bank account where their own earnings were sent.

According to other evidence submitted by prosecutors in court and obtained by ICIJ partner Context, the Tate brothers offered online classes to their followers on how to profit from OnlyFans — an online adult entertainment subscription website — including social media marketing strategies and convincing men to subscribe to paid adult content.OnlyFans’s owner also owns MFCXY Inc., the company that initiated the money transfers to Tristan Tate’s Paxum account. The company did not reply to ICIJ’s request to comment in May.

Ahead of the May article, Paxum Bank denied any impropriety and sent a letter through a lawyer warning that publication of confidential bank information could lead to legal action against ICIJ.

On Sept. 4, a spokesperson for Paxum issued a new explanation.

“Notwithstanding what you purportedly believe to be factual, Paxum Bank has never opened or maintained accounts for either of the Tate brothers. Perhaps you and others are confusing the bank with an unrelated entity called Paxum Inc., which was a Canadian company with a different owner and unrelated management and which no longer operates.”

ICIJ has found multiple transfers out of Tate’s accounts which arrived at his other accounts with banks in Europe such as Santander and Raiffeisen and were marked with the address of Paxum Bank in Dominica, while also bearing the “customer name” of “paxumbank ltd” on the wire transfer document. Tate’s account statements are headed with Paxum Bank’s address in Dominica, rather than the Canadian address of the now-defunct Paxum Inc.

Paxum Bank said in a later statement that after it purchased the assets of Paxum Inc. in late 2022, the bank’s IT system auto-generated a change from Paxum Inc. to Paxum Bank in previous electronic records, which meant that transactions that were made by Paxum Inc. would erroneously appear to have been made by Paxum Bank.

The wiretap transcripts also contain discussions between the brothers about opening multiple bank accounts and keeping relatively low balances, seemingly to avoid attention from compliance departments — a tactic sometimes used by those seeking to evade anti-money laundering checks at banks. “We’ll open accounts at all the banks. We’ll spread the money,” Andrew said, according to the transcripts. “We’ll keep the balance low. We can buy another house. We don’t need large balances in bank accounts.”

In one instance, Andrew says he ignored a request from a bank to update his personal details, and the account remained open despite this.

“Following the rules never works,” Andrew told Tristan, according to the transcript.