American federal and state agencies are investigating two Pakistani-American businessmen and their associates for alleged money laundering, wire fraud, and tax evasion.
According to investigators, these individuals are accused of creating questionable company structures to launder the proceeds of suspected illicit funds.
Federal authorities in the US have confirmed that two companies, Riceland Investment Group LP (a Texas limited partnership) and Mecca Farms Group LLC (a Texas limited liability company), are under investigation for establishing complex and dubious structures aimed at evading taxes and laundering suspected illicit money for the benefit of those managing and controlling these firms.
Riceland Investment Group, initially founded by Texas-based Syed Rashid Ali, entered into a questionable partnership in 2015 with Mecca Farms Group, owned by Muhammad Tahir Javed, a businessman and former Advisor to the Interim Prime Minister of Pakistan. This deal resulted in Tahir Javed becoming the sole owner of Riceland Investment Group and gaining 51% control of Mecca Farms.
However, U.S. investigators suggest that the situation is more complex than it appears. Syed Rashid Ali, his brother Syed Shahid Ali, and Muhammad Tahir Javed have a troubled history, including fraud and embezzlement convictions, notably involving a $35 million COVID-19 relief scheme scandal under the scrutiny of the U.S. Justice Department.
The situation worsens as Javed, also a former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader in the U.S., has been accused of orchestrating the murder of a close relative in Pakistan—an allegation he denies. Javed’s career has been fraught with controversy, culminating in his removal as Advisor to Interim Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar just days after his appointment, following the revelation of a prior conviction in the U.S. that he failed to disclose.
In this case, evidence indicates that Javed, referred to as the “Investor” and a convicted felon, agreed to purchase a 55% ownership interest in Mecca Farms for $2,465,000. The initial payment of $500,000 was made at the contract’s closing, with the remaining balance due within five days of a request by Mecca Farms. However, investigators suspect the entire scheme was fraudulent.
Documents reveal that Javed claimed to have paid $200,000 of the total purchase price, but the remaining $2,245,000 has yet to be paid. Federal investigators believe this scandal may be linked to the cover-up of the $35 million COVID-19 relief scheme, with allegations that Syed Rashid Ali conspired with Javed in this cover-up.
The takeover agreement assigned Muhammad Tahir Javed as Chairman of the Board of Managers, with the board primarily comprising individuals from Houston, raising further suspicions and prompting an investigation by American authorities into the structure established for Mecca Farms.
Syed Rashid Ali and Syed Shahid Ali, real brothers, are implicated in the scheme, along with real brothers Tahir Javed and Shahid Javed. Documents reveal that Shahid Ali and Shahid Javed, the brother of Tahir Javed, have been partners in multiple financial deals, which are also under investigation.
What has prompted such a high-profile investigation by American authorities?
Investigators have linked the probe to the $35 million COVID-19 relief scheme corruption scandal of December 2021, in which a federal grand jury in Houston indicted and sentenced several individuals for fraudulently obtaining and laundering millions of dollars through forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
In total, 15 individuals across two states were charged in the conspiracy. According to court documents, Syed Shahid Ali (of Sugar Land, Texas) conspired with others to submit over 80 false and fraudulent PPP loan applications by falsifying the number of employees and the average monthly payroll expenses of the applicant businesses.
The defendants sought more than $35 million in PPP loan funds, obtaining approximately $18 million, and then committed wire fraud, theft, money laundering, and embezzlement.
The indictment alleged that the defendants laundered a portion of the fraudulent loan proceeds by writing cheques from companies that received PPP loans to fake employees. These cheques were cashed by some of the defendants and their relatives, according to the charges. Before going to trial, almost all of the accused pleaded guilty to their involvement in the scheme of wire fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.
The COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force, established by the Attorney General in May 2021, which marshalled the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to prosecute the fraud accused, is also assisting federal investigators in this probe, which is focused on the Javed brothers, the Ali brothers, and their accomplices.
Documents reveal that Syed Shahid Ali took loans of $566,778 and $522,800 through Riceland, claiming he was offering free COVID-19 vaccinations to the community through his hospital, but the federal government was paying him $35 per patient. Investigators believe Tahir Javed and Shahid Ali were colluding, with Shahid Ali taking the indictment to protect his partner, Tahir Javed.
Meanwhile, in the Toba Tek Singh District of Punjab, Pakistan, authorities are investigating the 2008 murder of a poor villager.
Wahab Anwar, son of Anwar Ahmad from village 308 GB of Tehsil Pir Mahal in Toba Tek Singh, was killed in broad daylight. A handsome villager, his parents sent him to Lahore in early 2008 to work for Muhammad Tahir Javed and his wife, Rubina Javed, at their Lahore home. Suspecting an affair, Tahir Javed allegedly shot Wahab Anwar, who died three days later from a gunshot wound.
The police got involved, but Tahir Javed made a plea bargain with the victim’s father by paying a significant amount. Javed also got the victim’s sister married to his nephew (sister’s son) and ensured the bride arrived in Texas shortly after the marriage. Under Pakistani Diyat laws, blood money can be paid to avoid a murder conviction if the victim’s heir(s) agree to forgive the accused. Currently, the victim’s sister resides in Jefferson County in the City of Beaumont.
The murder case is now under review by senior Pakistani investigators after Tahir Javed’s fraud and criminal activities were exposed in the Pakistani and international press. These reports also led to his removal as former caretaker premier Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar’s advisor. Former Interim PM Anwar Kakar’s office formed a probe committee that found Tahir Javed had concealed his felony and fraud conviction in the US when becoming Kakar’s advisor in October 2023.
The committee established that Tahir Javed lied about his credentials, leading to his dismissal just a few weeks later from his position as “Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Investment” based on intelligence reports by Pakistan’s intelligence agencies.
Reports submitted to PM Kakar indicated that Tahir Javed had campaigned for Imran Khan and the PTI while the party was in power but later became a fierce critic of Imran Khan, calling him a failure as PM whose only claim to fame was his celebrity status as a cricketer. This was believed to have been done to pave the way for Javed to join the Kakar cabinet. The intelligence report also found that Muhammad Tahir Javed had pledged publicly to donate $50,000 to former army chief General (rtd) Qamar Javed Bajwa’s fund for the flood victims in 2020, but the cheque bounced due to insufficient funds.
According to Texan court records, Tahir Javed was sentenced to five years of deferred imprisonment for felony theft in 1994. The Texas Jefferson County’s District Criminal Court data records Muhammad Tahir Javed’s felony theft as “Cause: 56447; offence date: 25 September 1990, Beaumont Tx; filing date: 5 November 1990; offence description, theft by receiving; probation amount: 5; and description: P/G Judge; and Deferred Completed: 28th of March 1994.”
In July 2017, Javed was warned of criminal prosecution, seizure, or injunction by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over Royal Smoke LL, an online purveyor of tobacco and related products. At the same time, Royal Smoke was subjected to government intervention.
Tahir Javed was also cautioned against labelling and advertising outside the scope of the law and warned that failure to take corrective measures could lead to criminal prosecution.
Continuing his public career, Muhammad Tahir Javed announced his candidacy for the Fort Bend County Precinct 3 Position in 2023. However, he was subjected to a Texas Ethics Commission investigation – case SC 32306211 – which caused him to withdraw.
American agents confirmed that Tahir Javed’s conduct has been of interest to them for several years.
In 2018, Tahir Javed ran for a Congressional seat in Houston, which he lost at the primary stage. Investigators reveal that the 2018 election campaign by Javed is also under investigation, as he allegedly transferred the domicile of many of his family members and friends to the district he was running in to boost his vote base.
Informed sources revealed that Tahir Javed made several dubious entries during his campaign to move funds from his company Riceland and then paid himself back under filing FEC-1209534, with documents proving that he contributed $100,000 and $25,918 to his campaign.
Another document showed Tahir Javed contributing $553,416 in February 2018. Later documents revealed that under the Political Action Committee (PAC) & Super PAC contributions, Tahir Javed lent $1,304,556 to his own company Riceland HealthCare.
Furthermore, on December 31, 2018, Tahir Javed forgave a loan of $250,000 to himself from the campaign funds. These activities, according to investigators, signal high-level money laundering.
A year later in 2019, Tahir Javed allegedly committed insurance fraud to recoup losses, according to investigators. Federal agencies are investigating how Tahir Javed allegedly used his own hospital and had family members undergo multiple surgeries, billing insurance companies. Interestingly, on the day his family’s surgeries were scheduled, social media showed them attending a social event, raising suspicions.
All these activities are now under investigation. If proven guilty, Tahir Javed could face another felony, leading to the revocation of his US citizenship, up to 15 years in prison, and potential deportation to Pakistan.
Investigators are also probing another controversy involving the Pakistan Super League team, Lahore Qalandars, related to a new financial scandal involving Rs 500 million ($1.8 million). According to court papers filed in the State of Texas at Jefferson County, Muhammad Tahir Javed and his company TJ Properties (SMC-Private) Limited failed to fulfil contractual obligations for the sale of plots at a residential society in Pakistan.
Legal documents show that Muhammad Tahir Javed and his company, along with Realtor Nine Limited, entered into a joint venture earlier this year with Qalandars Marketing (Private) Limited for the marketing and sales rights as Titanium Partner of the Qalandars City Project located at Lahore-Islamabad motorway at Kot Abdul Malik Interchange.
Tahir Javed and his partners agreed that the joint venture partners would design and plan the sales strategy for different markets, including the UK, USA, and the Middle East, and implement it for marketing. However, the legal papers indicate that Tahir Javed and Realtor Nine Limited failed to make the agreed payments or fulfil any contractual obligations stipulated in the 17-page contract.
The case was fought in a Texan court as well as in Pakistan. After Lahore Qalandars hired a Houston law firm, Tahir Javed withdrew his lawsuit and apologised in his first reply to avoid a countersuit.
Lawyers representing Lahore Qalandars are considering further legal steps.
Sources claim that American federal agents have communicated with Pakistani authorities regarding this case, but details on the progress of the investigation remain undisclosed.
Sources close to Tahir Javed and Syed Ali confirmed that federal investigating agencies were in contact with them. However, they announced their intention to fully defend the case, calling it unfortunate that the new investigation is being linked to the $35 million COVID-19 relief fraud.
