Imran Khan's Pizza-mogul 'Special Assistant' quits; Pakistan PM accepts resignation

Pakistan’s Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa (retd) announced that Prime Minister Imran Khan has accepted his resignation as Special Assistant to PM on Information and Broadcasting, over a month after he submitted his resignation. Bajwa will continue to work as chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority. Taking to Twitter, the Pakistani official said that Imran Khan has approved his request to “relinquish” from his additional portfolio. 

Bajwa had submitted his resignation from SAPM on I&B in September after a report regarding his family’s assets alleged that he has a hidden multi-million dollar pizza delivery business in the US. The retired general had declared “no assets or business outside Pakistan” in his official declaration form to the Imran cabinet in June. At that time, Khan refused to accept his resignation and, according to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the prime minister was satisfied with the evidence provided by Bajwa about his family's assets.

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Multi-million dollar pizza delivery business

According to a report published by Fact Focus, Bajwa's younger brothers opened their first franchise outlet of Papa John’s pizza in the United States in 2002. Starting with one franchise, the middle-class family has now turned the pizza delivery business into an empire worth $39.9 million, which coincidently began in the same year as Bajwa's appointment as a lieutenant colonel in Pervez Musharraf's staff.

In 2004, three more franchises were opened, followed by another 20 in 2006-07, and 28 in 2008. The report suggests that the expansion would have involved an investment of approximately $52.2 million, raising red flags on how the family was sourcing such massive investments to fuel their multi-million dollar pizza franchises in the US.

“The Bajwa family’s companies spent an estimated $52.2 million to develop their businesses and $14.5 million to purchase properties in the United States, while Asim Bajwa and his department were encouraging Pakistanis to invest within their relatively undeveloped country,” the report read.

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