S,
Thanks. When I was in Pakistan recently, I saw a lot of this on TV, the papers and the inter-net.
Najam I first met when he had, along with a group of other rascals (I mean that in a funny way), returned from Cambridge University after completing his studies in the 60s? I have known him "since long" as we say in our bad English. I have always had and will continue to have great admiration and respect for his intellect, his excellent grasp of the political economy, security issues, foreign policy, and when he writes about it, he is an accomplished economist as well. Perhaps not with an advanced degree in the subject, but so what?
He is a "Liberal" that is a label in Pakistan that has become dangerous and I suspect they (whoever "they" may be) are going to pick them off one-by-one. It has already happened, most prominently in the case of Salmaan Taseer, shot 24 times by his own security detail at point blank rage while other members of his security watched, and whom I had also known for 30+ years, and Saleem Shezad (perhaps not a liberal but let us say -- "out-spoken").
If you are a liberal AND outspoken then people like Najam, and you and I as well, are in the cross-hairs and in mortal-danger. A danger that we, our women-folk, and even our children, can choose to ignore at our peril.
I have no idea if Najam is corrupt or not -- and frankly, it is none of my f-ing business. But having an apartment in NY is NOT a crime. One thing for sure: NY is NOT Pakistan and Najam must have paid all his taxes to the state and county. If the apartment is rented out and there is income, you can be sure he is being taxed on that as well (including federal income tax). So I don't see the problem. If he is paying his taxes on his US properties/income, he cannot be taxed again in Pakistan -- you know this avoidance of double-taxation thing better than I, being a fully-qualified ACA.
But you can ask me anytime about my own experience. I am taxed on my home here, a small town-house 50 miles away from DC, by the state government and the county and my income/pension from the IMF is of course taxed by the federal government. Hell, I even pay tax HERE on my Pakistani pension! -- even though my friends urged me to "forget about and don't tell them about your Pakistani pension". I am simply too old now to run afoul of the IRS. And with only a "Green Card", if I should be caught mis-declaring my GLOBAL income (I know the consequences because my niece is an immigration attorney) they will cuff me, walk me through Dulles Airport and deport me immediately. And make sure my children are watching for effect.
Of course, tomorrow they will say I am corrupt too (if I took up any assignment in Pakistan) if they find out that I bought this place for $350,000, forgetting I may have a $320,000 30-year mortgage on it, AFTER I had "separated" (there is no age restriction for those working on the Executive Board) from the IMF since long. I have told you the story of my 500 sq. yd. plot in G-13 Islamabad, that government gave me many years ago on my retirement from government service and how and when I sold it, brought the money here bank-to-bank (and since it was more than $10,000 my credit union is required by law to report it immediately to the IRS and Homeland Security) and how the IRS clobbered me with "capital-gains" on my 2010 tax return. I will not repeat it here.
What is Najam's mortgage? The "evidence" purports to give the price. It does not say anything about what mortgage he may be carrying. We are actually quite ill-informed, and this "student" (we know he is NOT a student) is a dim-wit.
Where did Najam get the money from? Najam is an extremely well-paid media person and has been at this business for decades. I think he even worked for a time outside Pakistan, earning our much coveted and loved dollars (or DAALARS, as pronounce it in Pakistan). Our capital account is fully open and our currency de-facto convertible. It is not a big deal anymore if you take money out bank-to-bank; nor is it illegal to do so! In the US you only need 10% down, otherwise you have to pay private-mortgage-insurance which is what I was paying when I was in the IMF! -- until my equity rose to around 20%, as I recall which seemd like 100 years later.
If those rupees had been earned in an illegal fashion and were not taxed in Pakistan, that is an entirely different issue. I have no way to establish the facts on the matter and nor does anyone else. We need to see the documentary evidence and that does NOT mean a blurred scanned copy on the f-ing inter-net and/or U-Tube. That is NOT acceptable evidence.
About these other accusations/"evidence" of Riaz Malick having bribed all the usual suspects, this "information" was revealed when I was in Islamabad. I did see Najam's name and I immediately sent it to him even if I have been taken-to-task by my friends before for not clarifying that the information is being passed along WITHOUT ENDORSEMENT! I hope -- and most certainly pray -- that Najam knows me just enough to know that I would never do that.
I am amused that our people, and especially our so-called intelligentsia, the "talking-heads", all "foreign-educated", or "FAARIN"-educated, as we pronounce it, are so shocked at someone like Riaz Malick and what he is purported to have done. Why is this such a surprise? Or it is the salacious part that we are enjoying?
But where is the SEX? It is something which I have been waiting for with bated-breath and great anticipation and excitement! And on U-Tube!
But sex in PAKISTAN??
NO WAY!!
We don't have sex in Pakistan, "YAAR"!! [brother to my "farangi" friends reading this]. So are we going to feign shock and surprise if that comes out too? I am fully confident -- and certainly more confident than the economic projections that economists make about the Pakistan economy -- including myself --that we will.
No sex but great hypocrites.
But I digress.
This is not the place and time to talk of corruption in Pakistan -- a subject on which you and I have had many stimulating discussions on over the years.
And I know that you know all the things I have already said. You have to "put food on the table" as you told me so you must be busy. Besides, since you know all this stuff and I have added nothing to the story (not even sex), I must be boring you so I will "quit while I am ahead" -- even though I did not think I ever got that far either this time -- nor certainly ever with you, knowing you since-long.
All the best as always,
M
Sent: 6/29/2012 10:16:35 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Fwd: Corruption of Najam Sethi Exposed by a Pakistani Student in New York
Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:34 am (PDT)
