Real estate scams.

OVER the years, Karachi's precious real estate has become a happy hunting ground for unscrupulous builders, enabled by corrupt political bigwigs and a bureaucracy that acts as the latter's handmaiden.

Two more land scams are now in the spotlight.

On Wednesday, NAB informed an accountability court about the fraudulent manner in which land was allegedly acquired in the name of 'shuhada' by certain builders and PAF officials for the Fazaia Housing Scheme in Karachi. Further, it said, of 8,400 units, only 30 were allotted to families of martyred air force personnel. The accused are believed to have collected Rs18.2bn under the heads of various fees, surcharges, etc - no doubt to be shared amongst all the players, those on the front line as well as in the power centres that ensure impunity for such crimes.

NAB has also filed a reference against Malik Riaz, the owner of Bahria Town, and several others - including politicians and bureaucrats - for illegal allotment of an amenity plot in Karachi's Clifton area on which a portion of the Icon Tower project is located.

It will be interesting to see how both cases unfold, given they involve individuals with connections in the 'right' places.

Bahria Town's land acquisition and development practices in multiple projects were declared illegal by the Supreme Court in May 2018. In March last year, the apex court accepted its offer to pay Rs460bn over seven years in land settlement charges for its massive housing scheme in Karachi.

However, it ordered NAB to refrain from filing references against those involved in that scam of unprecedented proportions: the reference...