ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan spy chief Gen (R) Faiz Hameed’s reportedly most trusted frontman Mohsin Habib Warraich has fled Pakistan for London to evade investigation into the military trial of a former powerful general by his own institution on charges of corruption and misuse of power.
Mohsin Habib Warraich is the son of former MNA and ex-Federal Minister of Defence Production Major (R) Habibullah Warraich and is the central figure of the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam involving over Rs 2 billion.
He lived in exile in London for a number of years from 2010 until Gen Faiz brought him back to Pakistan after guaranteeing his safety and protection from the government and legal authorities.
Mohsin is considered to be the closest man to Gen Faiz and managed business deals for the retired general starting from 2014 till now and relocated to Pakistan from London on Faiz’s request. They both became close in London whilst Gen Faiz was a Brigadier attending the UK Royal Defence College for two years.
Allegedly, Mohsin also became his trusted man, arranging things for him including shopping sprees and entertainment. The trust level developed quickly because Faiz’s father-in-law and Mohsin’s father Habibullah Warraich were batch mates in Kakul military academy.
Pakistani intelligence sources have said Mohsin has reached London via Dubai and that they are keen to speak to him in relation to the high-profile investigation into Gen Faiz who is accused of abusing his power and raiding a private property development business during his time as head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.
Gen Faiz led the ISI during Imran Khan’s term as Prime Minister from 2019 to 2021. He took early retirement in December 2022. He was considered powerful in the military’s intelligence wing after returning from London in late 2015 when he was made the DGC – the head of intelligence affairs inside Pakistan. He enjoyed powers and allegedly used that power for his personal benefits and those of his favoured people, particularly Mohsin.
While Faiz is in custody along with some of his retired military associates, Mohsin is gallivanting around in London in his convertible Rolls Royce. This is the same Rolls Royce that Faiz and his family members had been reportedly using during their London trips.
Mohsin had first fled Pakistan for London in 2010 and avoided several orders of the Pakistani courts to return to Pakistan but decided to return after Gen Faiz allegedly managed the courts through ‘likeminded’ judges such as former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar. After returning to Pakistan, Mohsin Warraich reportedly became the unofficial chief of staff of Gen Faiz.
During Imran Khan’s government, while Faiz wielded significant power, it was Mohsin who allegedly orchestrated their business dealings. However, his domain was not restricted to commercial transactions.
Mohsin was also allegedly the mastermind of a political move which if succeeded would have given the duo a license to run the country’s most populous and richest Punjab province.
Several senior PTI leaders have confirmed that Gen Faiz lobbied to make Mohsin’s father-in-law – Mohammad Nasir Khan who served as the Federal Health Minister between 2002-2007—as Punjab’s interim Chief Minister.
PTI proposed Nasir Khan as the Punjab caretaker CM candidate after Imran Khan received a telephone call from Gen Faiz in early 2023 following the dissolution of the Punjab assembly by Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. Pakistan military has evidence that Gen Faiz was lobbying for Nasir Khan and was not supposed to be meddling in political engineering. Mohsin was approached for his response to the allegations and sent a list of detailed questions but he didn’t respond.
