Former Pakistani spy chief Lt General (rted) Faiz Hameed’s most trusted frontman, Mohsin Habib Warraich, has fled Pakistan for London to evade investigation into the military trial of the 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 federal minister of defence production, Major (retd) Habibullah Warraich. Mohsin is the central figure of National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam involving over Rs2 billion. He lived in exile in London for a number of years from 2010 until General 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 to General Faiz who managed business deals for the retired general from 2014 till now. They both became close in London whilst General Faiz was a brigadier attending the UK Royal Defence College for two years.
Mohsin 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 General 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.
General Faiz led the ISI during Imran Khan's administration from 2019 to 2021 before taking early retirement in December 2022. But Faiz was extremely 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 huge powers and used these powers for his personal benefits and those of his favoured people, particularly Mohsin.
While Faiz is in custody along with several of his retired military associates, Mohsin is gallivanting around in London in his convertible Rolls-Royce with private number plate W777 MOH. This is the same Rolls-Royce that Faiz and his family members have been using during their London trips.
Incidentally, all his vehicles in Pakistan and Dubai also have the same digits, and he uses the number 7 extensively on his official Facebook page. The 777 represents his date of birth, which is January 7, 1977.
Mohsin had first fled Pakistan for London in 2010 and avoided several orders of Pakistani courts to return to Pakistan but decided to return after General Faiz managed the courts through the managed judges such as the former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar. After returning to Pakistan, Mohsin Warraich immediately became the unofficial chief of staff of General Faiz.
Throughout his time in Pakistan, Mohsin Habib Warraich enjoyed round the clock security arranged by General Faiz, and paid for by the Pakistani taxpayer. He would often boast to people that the unmarked pick-up security vehicles always escorting him were provided by General Faiz. A Pakistani intelligence source confirmed that Faiz used his muscle to get Mohsin a clean chit.
In return, Mohsin travelled the world on behalf of Faiz, acting as his de facto representative, negotiating and executing deals, often introducing himself as an arms dealer working for the Pakistan Army. He was able to back up this claim by confirmation directly from Faiz. He visited Russia on at least one occasion on behalf of Faiz to secure a major arms deal. Faiz was, in fact, going above and beyond merely confirming Mohsin’s role as an official representative of the Pakistan army.
Faiz’s support was not restricted to arms' deals but was extended across the board. In a separate incident involving the anti-Covid Sputnik vaccine, Mohsin faced resistance from the official dealer for the Sputnik vaccine based in Dubai, who had the exclusive rights to sell the vaccine in Pakistan. Faiz intervened directly, telling the dealer that the only way the Sputnik vaccine would be allowed to be sold in Pakistan would be through Mohsin.
This compelled the dealer to reluctantly negotiate with Mohsin, who later secured a multimillion-dollar sale to the Pakistan Army - a deal that has now become a focal point in the investigation against Faiz due to suspicions of massive commissions being earned. By far the biggest and most lucrative transaction Mohsin executed following this was a sale of the vaccine amounting to millions of dollars to the Pakistan Army. This was perhaps one of the biggest breaks for both Faiz and Mohsin.
During Imran Khan’s government, while Faiz wielded significant power, it was Mohsin who orchestrated their business dealings. However, Mohsin’s domain was not restricted to commercial transactions. Official sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, have confirmed that Mohsin had senior officials within the intelligence agencies directly call sitting high court judges in order to pressurise them into giving favourable decisions.
Mohsin was also the mastermind of a political move that if had been successful 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 General 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.
The PTI proposed Nasir Khan as the Punjab caretaker CM candidate after Imran Khan received a telephone call from General Faiz in early 2023 following the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly by Parvez Elahi. The military has evidence that Gen Faiz was lobbying for Nasir Khan post his retirement and was not supposed to be meddling in political engineering.
Mohsin’s wife, Beenish Khan (now Beenish Habib Warraich), daughter of former federal health minister Muhammad Nasir Khan, has also been under scrutiny in the UK about Mohsin’s NICL case. When Mohsin was under investigation during the NICL case, the Pakistan government wrote to the UK to provide information about him.
Beenish was put under surveillance by the UK’s Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and her account at Barclays was subsequently closed. In Lahore, Dubai and London circles, she is known for her extravagant lifestyle and collection of designer Hermes bags, luxury watches and jewellery as well as luxury vehicles, including Range Rovers, Mercedes, and BMWs. In fact, Mohsin’s personal Rolls-Royce in London (W777MOH) is registered under her name.
Thanks to the favours offered by Faiz, Mohsin Warraich now owns several assets around the world, and is frequently seen in the most expensive restaurants and private members club (especially the exclusive Arts Club on Dover Street, London) in Dubai and London. Intelligence agencies believe that General Faiz has a share in these assets as a benaami.
Before the publication of this article, Mohsin was sent a list of detailed questions but failed to respond to any of these directly.
