Craven or Rainbow Hearts? Chasing Shadows, Losing Gold
At the Industry Collection Exhibition, supported by world renowned NM Rothschild & Sons Ltd in association with the World Gold Council and the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), being held from Feb 9 to May 14, 1998 at the Bank of England Museum in London, Dubai-based Pakistani-origin ARY Traders are displaying ARY Rainbow Hearts gold pendants and ARY gold bars. The Sydney 2000 Olympic Coin Programme, a Joint Venture (JV) between the Royal Australian Mint and the Perth Mint, have appointed ARY Traders as the official distributor of their programme in the UAE. In defence of ARY, which had been named by the Ehtesab Cell, led by Senator Saifur Rahman, of alleged wrongdoings relating to his getting the sole rights to import gold into Pakistan, Mr Rolf Schnebeli, Chief Executive, Middle East & India, World Gold Council said, “ARY is a well-reputed company in Dubai with a long-standing presence in the UAE and during my time I have had very positive experience (of them). I have no reason to doubt ARY’s statement (which had rejected GoP’s alleged charges and challenged them to prove any wrongdoing).
On Mar 14, 1998, in a Reference filed before the Ehtesab Bench of the Lahore High Court against (1) Asif Zardari (2) Brig (Retd) Aslam Hayat Qureshi (3) Salman Faruqui (4) Jawed Talat (5) 4 Directors of ARY Traders led by Haji Abdul Razzak and (6) Jans Schlegelmilch, the aforementioned were charged with causing a loss to the public exchequer of approximately Rs.1820 million, and having committed offence of corruption and for corrupt practices within the meaning of Section 3 read with Section 4(2) of the Ehtesab Act, 1997. In a complaint filed with the Dubai Police on July 12, 1997 MCB had accused Hussain Lawai, former President MCB of committing fraud by transferring US$ 10 million in two instalments of US$ 5 million each on Oct 5, 1994 and Feb 23, 1995 via American Express to the directors of ARY in Dubai for “services rendered”
