“A school friend from Lawrence College (1958-1962), Afzal Ghani Barq of Ferozsons gave Rs 5,000 towards his 33 percent share, he said this was a vote of confidence in me. He said he would not give anymore, but would in return not take anything from the company, in the form of profits or the value of his equity in Pathfinder Ltd. He has kept his word. Another friend, Siraj ul Mulk requested a share but put 33 percent share of the money (Rs 5,000) the day after we received Rs 100,000 in the Bank as our first commission in May 1978, that also after confirming from the Bank Manager. When another Rs 100,000 came into the account a couple of months later, this gentleman demanded immediate payment of profit of Rs 66,667 as his one third share. Since there was Martial Law at that time and his former unit was in Karachi, Afzal and I were asked to come and explain how we had defrauded this man of his life’s earnings, Rs 5,000. Afzal advised that we agree and immediately make a payment to get rid of him. A settlement was agreed in which we would pay him Rs 16,667 immediately and Rs 16,667 after submission of our tax returns. Afzal remarked that 15 years later we might have to pay him Rs 10 million the way I was going. Actually the calculation would put it much higher by 1993. Because this man was so anxious to get a quick return on his Rs 5,000, probably he could have walked away with Rs 50 million in 1993 encashing his equity in Pathfinder. Today it could probably be Rs 5 billion. Such are the grapes of greed!
Another friend joined me after being freed from jail, sentenced by court martial for trying to overthrow Bhutto’s government, something Saeed Akhtar Malik vehemently denied under oath. He only started to boast about it after Bhutto was overthrown. He made it quite clear that he could not invest a penny, Saeed also pleaded to be excused from contributing time and effort since he wanted to recuperate from his years in prison, and essentially went on ‘R & R’ for a good three years. I consoled myself that he would come good once he was settled. Within that time, he got involved in a murder case, that of Zafar Zehri, Senator Nabi Bakhsh, Zehri’s son. He was exonerated (mainly because of our excellent lawyer, now a prominent political personality) and he decided to leave the country. We settled his ‘third’ of the existing value of the company. Since he was getting married abroad in 1981, he additionally requested for and got from me personally my total balance of about £5,000 that I had in UK as a gift. By this time our friendship had faded, and we had grown apart. I would not like to state why the murder however, inadvertently took place. He came back from the UK in late 1982 and started his own business with another school-mate. This venture was an utter failure.
My father repeatedly warned me never to have anything to do with this man ever again. Barely a month after my father’s death in August 1983, Saeed Akhtar Malik’s younger brother, Salim Akhtar Malik, suddenly started coming out of the blue to my house every evening. He worked on my emotions that since my father was dead and I had no immediate family, I needed someone like his brother to help me in the business, and personally.
Around the time of my father’s death, Herbert Holzman, the Sales Manager for Steyr Daimler Puch, Austria was introduced to me by Brig. (retd.) Z.A. Khan, who worked with us as a Consultant, and whose books I had promised to publish (and have published). I became the exclusive agent for Steyr Daimler Puch, a company whose weapons and equipment were really amazing and Herbert became a very good friend. Among the products were the Army Universal Gun (AUG) and the Steyr Sniper Rifle. Almost simultaneously, I started getting exclusive agencies of other defence products across the board. Brig. Saleemullah, whose son Ihtesham had been working with me earlier, my senior from Army Aviation, started working with me in Rawalpindi for the 5-ton tactical truck and the Pinzgauer. I thought that Saeed Akhtar Malik, who had the knowledge and capability, would be ideal for AUG and the Sniper Rifle. Despite my late father’s advice, I again took him in, this time as an employee, and not as a partner or shareholder, and moved him to Rawalpindi.
It was apparent that all four Steyr products, the AUG, the Sniper rifle, the 5-ton tactical truck and the Pinzgauer, and the up-gunning of the 155m Howitzer were winners. Many other arms and equipments are not mentioned. However, I soon ran up against ‘test and trial’ and the payment of bribes (goodwill), being reminded endlessly that since I was an idealist I was not trusted by the decision-makers as to whether payments of goodwill’ would be made. The ‘defence products’ business was divided among those employees who were actually handling the products, transferring the Steyr weapons to Saeed Akhtar Malik, and the Steyr vehicles, and up-gunning of howitzers etc. to Brig. Salim and his son, Ihtesham Salim (till that time supposedly my devoted and loyal ‘younger brother’). This was documented, but at the request of Saeed and Brig Salim they kept operating under the Pathfinder name for two years, to ensure continuity and credibility. Herbert Holzman, one of the finest persons I have been privileged to know, strongly protested against this but went along with my transferring the agencies from my name to theirs, in both cases after they became eligible for payment of commission of $1 million plus each, such was their lack of confidence about their own abilities. AHQ told me to give them everything but the typewriter and the telex, we would come back the way we had started. A mechanism was created by Saeed, to solve this my name problem. He would get 45 percent (20 percent for ‘goodwill’ and 25 percent for him) and I would retain 55 percent (25 percent for office expenditures and 30 percent for myself). This was recorded on stamped paper. After a few months it was changed to 55 percent (30 percent for ‘goodwill’ and 25 percent for him) and 45 percent (25 percent for office expenditures and 20 percent for me). Then it became 65:35 percent, and then later 75:25 percent. We have all this man’s signed agreements all of them drafted by him. At about this time Brig Z A Khan and Col. Nusrat Ullah had a long talk with me. They maintained that I would get a bad name because the agency was in and would still end up making no money. Since Saeed was in Rawalpindi and was well connected through his drinking buddies, he would walk off with the money with his reputation intact. In any case, I was not comfortable paying ‘goodwill’ whatever the mechanism, we decided to leave the ‘defence sales’ business altogether. AHQ has preserved all the papers for posterity, the Army should know how its favorite sons have been taking them to the cleaners by earning huge commissions, up to 30 percent of the product cost at times. All this time they loudly pontificate about corruption. The irony is that Saeed Akhtar Malik and some of his cronies got into NAB when it was established. Some of them were good men till Malik corrupted them thoroughly, they made millions ‘shaking down’ businessmen and bureaucrats. The ‘plea bargain’ concept was used to line their own pockets. The agreement with Broadsheet where Pakistan has recently had to pay almost £25 million has gone unnoticed. Why? Because those responsible and guilty belong to an untouchable ‘elite’.”
