Jump to content

Abdul Razzak Yaqoob

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Mofidio21 (talk | contribs) at 15:06, 14 August 2020. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Abdul Razzak Yaqoob
Born(1944-05-07)7 May 1944[1]
Died21 February 2014(2014-02-21) (aged 69)[1]
London, United Kingdom
NationalityPakistani

Abdul Razzak Yaqoob (7 May 1944 – 21 February 2014) was a Pakistani gold bullion trader who founded ARY Gold in the United Arab Emirates and later ARY Media Group.

Early life

He was born in Surat, British India to Memon family in 1944 which later migrated to Karachi after partition.[2]

Business career

Yakoob moved to the United Arab Emirates in the 1960s and started gold business with an outlet in Dubai. He founded ARY Group in 1972 and launched a private television channel ARY Digital in 2000.[2]

He was associated with the ARY Gold bribery case in which he paid a bribe to then Finance Minister of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari to get exclusive rights to import and trade gold in Pakistan.[2] In January 1994, Schlegelmilch established a British Virgin Island based offshore company named Capricorn Trading, with Zardari as its owner.[3] Nine months later, an account was opened at Citibank Dubai branch in the name of Capricorn Trading, and Yaqqib deposited $5 million in the account. Two weeks later, ARY paid a $5 million bribe.[3]

Death

He died on 21 February 2014 in London, United Kingdom.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "ARY Founder Haji Abdul Razzaq passes away". Dawn (newspaper).
  2. ^ a b c d Reporter, The Newspaper's Staff (22 February 2014). "Founder of ARY Group passes away". Dawn (newspaper).
  3. ^ a b Burns, John F. "HOUSE OF GRAFT: Tracing the Bhutto Millions -- A special report.; Bhutto Clan Leaves Trail of Corruption". New York Times.