Investigative team that saved Pakistan from $1.2bn penalty in Karkey case awarded Sitara e Imtiaz

Sitara-e-Imtiaz, the highest civilian award, has been announced for the team comprising officers from the military whose efforts made the country proud internationally and saved the nation from a penalty of $1.2 billion.

As per details, Brig Rana Arfan Shakeel Ramay, Lt Col Farooq Shahbaz, and International Dispute Unit Head Ahmed Irfan Aslam worked hard in gathering information from Swiss, Lebanese, and Dubai banks regarding the corruption of Turkish power rental company, Karkey.

The officials also collected documents from Panama and the British Virgin Islands, which proved useful in winning the case against the firm. As a result of their fool-proof investigations, Karkey was forced to withdraw six cases it has filed against Pakistan, thus, saving the nation from heavy penalties and international embarrassment.

The team, headed by Brig Ramay, would be conferred Sitara-i-Imtiaz for public service on March 23rd, 2021. The ICSID - an arm of the World Bank had slapped a penalty worth $760 million-plus interest to the Turkish ship-based energy firm, Karkey Karadeniz Elektrik Uretim, following the latter's move to register arbitration claims against Pakistan under a bilateral investment treaty (BIT).

The Turkish firm had registered a claim with the ICSID against Pakistan in 2013 over the violation of a contract worth as much as $564.6 million for a five-year period to build rental power plants in Karachi.