Pakistani businessman Shaukat Ali’s 68-year-old wife Fakhra Shaukat Ali, and their 38-year-old son Wajid Shaukat Ali , have both been charged with money laundering, trading in influence, fraud, bribery and corruption. 

The defendants, both of whom reside in Malta, were arraigned before magistrate Rachel Montebello on Thursday, after allegedly profiting from the fraudulent hospitals deal with Vitals Global Healthcare, through Shaukat Ali Chaudhry’s companies Mount Everest FZ LLC and Global Assets Holdings.

In August, a court had declared that there were sufficient prima facie grounds to indict Shaukat Ali Chaudhruy and his wife Shaukat Aasia Parveen for related offences.

Prosecuting police inspector Wayne Rodney Borg told the court that he had taken over the investigation in 2022 and confirmed that Wajid had never been spoken to by the police.

Investigators had traced money transfers into the bank accounts of Shaukat Ali’s two wives Aasia Parveen and Fakhra Ali, his sons Asad and Wajid, and his “honorary daughter” Saba Binte Abbas and concluded that the family had “acted as a unit.”

The prosecution asked the court to confirm a €20 million freezing order, which they said, was based on amounts emerging from evidence gathered during the inquiry. 

Prosecutor Shelby Aquilina told the court that the defendants had participated in a “scheme to extract public funds, intended for the hospitals concession, for their personal gain.”

The defendant’s lawyer, Shazoo Ghaznavi contested the issuing of any seize and freeze orders through the present proceedings, arguing that if confirmed in court today, the defence would not have the possibility of challenging them.

Magistrate Montebello, after having also seen that the law obliged the court to issue a freezing and seizing order over the assets and properties subject to confiscation, said it had to accede to the prosecution’s request at this stage. 

The court issued the requested €20 million freezing and seizure order over all the defendants’ property.

It also prohibited the accused from making public statements that could undermine the proceedings or disseminating material from the inquiry in any way to ensure unlawful interference in the administration of justice. 

The court, in view of the defence’s declaration that the defendant was a permanent and habitual resident of Malta, and a Maltese citizen, granted bail, ordering the defendants to inform the court in advance of any travel outside the Maltese islands, and provide it with details of the destination and length of stay.

It also ordered the accused to provide a €35,000 personal guarantee. 

The magistrate declared that there were sufficient grounds for the accused to be committed to trial.

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