Naqvi-linked charity in Britain to close

The British branch of a Pakistani charity set up by Abraaj founder Arif Naqvi will close next month as he fights extradition to the United States to face fraud and money laundering charges over the collapse of the private equity company.

The charity’s trustees have told regulators that they plan to dissolve Aman Foundation UK after winding down its operations.

The charity, headed by Mr Naqvi’s wife Fayeeza, closed the London offices it shared with the Dubai-based Abraaj last year after the fund collapsed with losses to individuals and organisations of more than $1billion (Dh3.67bn), according to court documents.

Mr Naqvi was arrested at Heathrow Airport in April at the request of the US, which is seeking his extradition from the UK.

The businessman is on bail at his apartment in a gated luxury development in west London after lodging £15m (Dh70.7m) with a London court before an extradition hearing expected in February next year.

Mr Naqvi denies wrongdoing and is contesting the US application. He is not a trustee of the UK charity and did not have involvement in its operations, according to sources close to the charity.

Its work primarily supported a larger Pakistan-based charity founded by the businessman and his wife in 2008 to run education and health programmes.

The couple won a prize from French banking group BNP Paribas for their “individual philanthropy” in 2015 linked to their work with Pakistan’s Aman Foundation.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by the UK charity, which spent £2.3m in 2017-2018, according to its last filed accounts. The National reported in May that Mrs Naqvi wrote to fellow trustees days before Mr Naqvi’s arrest seeking their agreement to dissolve the charity’s UK operation.

US prosecutors have accused Mr Abraaj of shifting millions of dollars of investors’ money to shore up his collapsing private equity empire and for personal gain. Documents filed by US prosecutors in June claimed that the Aman Foundation in Pakistan was a potential beneficiary for the “improper use” of $1m invested in Abraaj.

The charity is set for closure on November 27, according to the regulator’s website.