Afghan election result delayed as fraud dispute deepens

KABUL: Afghanistan’s presidential election result has been delayed for several days, officials said Tuesday, as a dispute over alleged fraud threatens to derail the country´s first democratic transfer of power.

The preliminary result of the June 14 run-off vote had been due on Wednesday but was postponed at short notice to allow ballots in 2,000 voting centres to be checked -- throwing the handover process into turmoil.

Abdullah Abdullah, previously seen as the front-runner, has said he would reject the result due to "blatant fraud", while his poll rival Ashraf Ghani said the election was clean and claimed victory by more than one million votes.

The United Nations and donor countries have been trying for months to prevent a contested election outcome, fearing political deadlock and ethnic violence as US-led troops withdraw from the country.

But with the two candidates at loggerheads, many fear the impasse could tip Afghanistan into a risky period of street protests and uncertainty.

About 6,000 voting centres were open across Afghanistan on June 14, when voters defied the threat of Taliban attacks to choose between former foreign minister Abdullah and Ghani, an ex-World Bank economist.

Any tension between rival supporters could ignite ethnic unrest since Ghani attracts much of his support from the Pashtun tribes of the south and east, while Abdullah´s loyalists are Tajiks and other northern Afghan groups.

Ghani´s campaign team criticised the delay in results, but said it welcomed any attempt to prevent fraud in the vote count.

"We believe the election commission should work in accordance to the election timeline and announce results on time," campaign spokeswoman Azita Rafat told AFP.

"If this delay is for the sake of transparency then we accept it, though it runs against the election law."

Abdullah´s team said its boycott of the vote count was still in place.

"The (election) commission has lost its legitimacy for us, and the recount of 2,000 polling centres will not change anything for us," said campaign spokesman Jawed Faisal. (AFP)

Afghan election contender Ghani dismisses fraud claims

KABUL: Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday defended himself against electoral fraud allegations that have tipped the country into a political crisis, saying that all ballots cast for him were legitimate.

"Our votes are clean, and we will defend each vote," Ghani told supporters in his first speech since the dispute over fake votes erupted.

Abdullah, Ghani both allege fraud in Afghan election

KABUL: A roadside bomb killed 11 people including five election workers in northern Afghanistan, officials said Sunday, as a prolonged vote count began after the presidential run-off election.

Election officials were sifting through fraud complaints from both candidates, and analysts said the lengthy count could be the trickiest phase in the country´s first democratic transfer of power.

More than 50 people were killed on polling day Saturday by militant attacks, including the 11 whose bus was hit by a roadside bomb in Samangan province and five members of one family who died when a Taliban rocket hit a house near a polling station.

Eleven voters in the western province of Herat had their fingers -- which were dipped in ink to register their ballot -- cut off by insurgents, Deputy Interior Minister Ayoub Salangi said.

But despite the Taliban attacks, Saturday´s election drew a high turnout of about seven million voters in a contest between former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani.

The White House praised voters´ courage and called the elections "a significant step forward on Afghanistan´s democratic path". The US, along with the UN, also urged the two candidates not to trade unproven fraud allegations, but both Abdullah and Ghani raised the issue immediately after polls closed.

"It is win or lose now," said Kate Clark, director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network. "The voting is only one phase of the election, and there is still a lot that could change. Being a good loser doesn´t gain you much here. "If it is close and fraud looks to have been a lot, and either candidate wants to really make a fuss, then we could be in for months of wrangling.

"The 2009 election, when outgoing President Hamid Karzai retained power, was marred by massive fraud that shook the US-led international effort to develop Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.

A credible election and smooth handover of power would be a major achievement for Afghanistan´s backers after 13 years of hugely costly military and civilian assistance. All foreign combat troops are due to withdraw by the end of this year.

"Allegations of fraud need to be addressed," US ambassador James Cunningham said after polls closed on Saturday. "But the candidates and their supporters should refrain from premature judgements and from criticism that is not supported with clear evidence."

The preliminary result is due on July 2, before the complaints period begins, and the final result is scheduled for July 22.

"We have urged the candidates to act as statesmen, future presidents, rather than people simply in a competition with each other," said Nicholas Haysom, the deputy chief of the UN mission. Reflecting international fears of a contested result, he said candidates must "exercise patience" as the count got underway.

The Electoral Complaints Commission said it had registered about 275 complaints by Sunday morning. "There were violation cases where the supporters of the presidential candidates forced voters to vote for a certain candidate," said spokesman Mohammad Nader Mohsini. "Supporters were also offering money for voters to vote for a certain candidate. "He said allegations had also been raised of interference by election officials and the security forces.

Ahead of Saturday´s ballot the Taliban threatened to kill voters and officials, saying the election was an American plot "to impose their stooges". The two candidates came top of an eight-man field in the April first-round election, triggering the run-off as neither reached the 50 percent threshold needed for outright victory. Abdullah secured 45 percent of the vote in Aprilo with Ghani on 31.6 percent.

Both candidates swiftly alleged fraud after the closure of the polls."We know there has been fraud, you have seen it, we have seen it," Abdullah said. Ghani called for a full investigation into vote-rigging, saying "unfortunately there were cases of security forces involved in fraud, we have the evidence".

MQM leader jailed for fraud not mortgage

LONDON: Imbisat Malick, a Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s London-based Central Co-ordination Committee member, was jailed because of his involvement with the MQM and the fraud for which he was prosecuted came to light during a police investigation into the finances of the MQM, court papers obtained by The News confirm.

Some MQM leaders have gone on record to state that Imbisat Mallick has been jailed for 21 months over a mortgage fraud that was his personal matter, but the court papers available with this correspondent unambiguously state that “the fraud came to light during a police investigation into the finances of the MQM, a Pakistani political party based in the UK, the investigations has shown that members of the organisation have access to large cash balances and have an extensive property portfolios.”

In cases where mortgage frauds are involved, police rarely get involved as banks pursue such civil cases, but Mallick’s conviction is unique in the sense that around 15 members of the Counter Terrorism Command Unit officials – the same unit that’s responsible for the murder investigation of Dr Imran Farooq and the associated money-laundering cases—raided the house of Imbisat Mallick under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE), after executing such warrants. The court papers clearly show that Mallick’s mortgage was 100 percent up-to-date. The court papers confirm that Mr Mallick, who was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court here on 13th of January this year, didn’t cause loss to the lender—the Santander Bank—and used the house to live with his family and was not speculating the sale of the house. Mallick’s lawyers presented in the court the letter from the Santander Bank of 3rd January 2014, advising change to monthly mortgage and giving the details of the future payment. They demonstrated that the bank didn’t raise any concerns, was happy to carry on doing business with Mr Mallick and didn’t object to the mortgage arrangement with Mr Mallick.

The court papers show that the Scotland Yard detectives raided the property of Mr Mallick on 17th of July 2013 – roughly a month after the detectives raided the residential properties of the MQM chief Altaf Hussain and his cousin Iftikhar Hussain Qurasihi. On 24th of June, the police arrested Quraishi, 52, at the Heathrow Airport when he was returning to London after attending a wedding in Canada. The Counter Terror unit executed a dawn raid at Mr Mallick’s Northwood home on 17th July. The police took away mobile phones, navigation system, computers, multi media laptops, data storage devices and almost all documents found in the house. The News has confirmation that the detectives, after arresting Mr Mallick, searched the property for a day.

According to sources, Mr Mallick was going to plead not guilty because it was a broker who had originally arranged all the paper work to obtain mortgage for Mr Mallick and for this, he was paid in the tune of about 6 thousand GBP. But the solicitor advised Mr Mallick that on prima facie the charges of mortgage fraud in a court before the jury could lead to wider exposure of the matters relating to the MQM where further witnesses could have been called to explain the property portfolios and the large cash balances. The prosecution paper clearly state that Mr Mallick is a central MQM leader and also son-in-law of Muhammad Anwar, one of the most senior MQM leaders and a key adviser to the party on international affairs.

The court papers say that Imbisat Mallick’s father-in-law is MQM’s senior leader and that he would be able to “purchase the house for cash if he was inclined to do so”.

The court papers show that the prosecution made a witness statement in support of an application for a restraint order under Section 41 Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. This application in the case of Mr Mallick means that his sentencing is linked with the wider money-laundering probe because no cash was found during raid on Mallick’s hosue.

The News is aware that Mr Mallick was advised by his solicitors that a trial could open a Pandora’s Box that could lead to several MQM figures also standing in the court for witness statements and other forms of questioning. The source confirmed that Mr Mallick pleaded guilty to avoid that situation and therefore, he has become the first martyr for the party in the multiple active probes.

As mentioned above, several leaders of the MQM are distancing themselves from Mr Mallick that his conviction is a personal matter, but his case is a test for the MQM and throws up a dilemma for the party as in whether the party acknowledges his huge sacrifice or tries to distance itself from one of their closest associates who now finds himself behind the bars for his very involvement in the party affairs.

The court papers show that Regina Vs Waya mortgage fraud precedent was used in the Isleworth Crown Court to sentence Mr Mallick but Mr Waya, in a similar mortgage fraud case, was sentenced to 80 hours of community service reflecting the judge’s view of the relatively low level for his culpability. The judge in the case of Mr Waya went on to say that “he was not guilty of a serious mortgage fraud, involving dishonest overvaluation of property. There was no loss to the mortgage lender.”

The papers seen by The News show that the case involving Mallick relates to a property in London’s Northwood area, which is subject to a mortgage in the sum of £399,734 and the approximate value of the property is £637,000.

The papers show that “the benefit will be the amount of equity in the property that can be attributed to the amount gained from the fraud.

The present value of the house is approximately £637,000 so the equity is around £127,000. The mortgage of £434,945 represents 85 percent of the purchase price. The benefit gained by the fraud is therefore 85 percent of £127,000 which is £107,950.”