Malik Riaz warns that Bahria Town could shut down soon due to dramatic financial crisis intensified by NAB crackdown that has frozen 457 properties, arrested employees and hard pursuit of the auction of these assets. Major cities experience an increase in uncertainty by residents and investors.
Malik Riaz, the founder and chairman of Bahria Town, publicly declared on August 5, 2025, that it is possible and even probable that the company could halt operations at every level in Pakistan due to serious financial and operational limitations. The news of Bahria Town shutting down has created concern across the country, as the owner of Bahria Town, Malik Riaz, is primarily responsible for the development of major real estate projects in the country.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) currently pressuring Bahria Town, one of the biggest developers of the privately owned housing and commercial real estate of Pakistan. It has been taking harsh measures such as arresting high-level employees, freezing their accounts in the bank and impounding vehicles by the agency. Malik Riaz states that such actions have led to a total ruin of the cash flow of the company leading to the inability of the company to sustain its normal activities or to pay salaries to its 50,000 or so workers.
NAB has frozen 457 properties linked to Malik Riaz and his son Ahmed Ali Riaz. The bureau is preparing to auction several Bahria-owned assets on August 7, 2025, to recover funds related to the Al-Qadir Trust case and a Rs460 billion settlement ordered by the Supreme Court. A verdict by the Islamabad High Court is still pending on petitions filed against this auction.
Residents in Bahria Town communities in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad are already facing service disruptions, including issues with electricity, water supply, and security. A number of investors will also be concerned since the value of property in Bahria Town projects has recorded a fall of 15-20 per cent in the past weeks.
Current projects like Bahria Town Peshawar also halted, and the buyers opt out of knowing whether they will recover their money or not. Even the legitimate residents, who have paid taxes, likely to be caught up in the crackdown on a wide scale as legal professionals warn.
Since Bahria Town could shut down soon, Malik Riaz has requested dialogue and arbitration to prevent the entire folding up. But in case there is no settlement, then it can also reflect on the wider real estate market in Pakistan. Now, investors and residents have been waiting to understand what is going to happen to the Bahria Town and Malik Riaz projects in the whole country.