Abdul Razzak Yaqoob


Abdul Razzak Yaqoob was a Pakistani gold bullion trader who founded ARY Gold in the United Arab Emirates and later ARY Media Group.
He was associated with ARY Gold bribery scandal in which he gave a bribery of to Bhutto government to get exclusive rights to trade gold.

Early life

He was born in Surat, British India to Memon family in 1944 which later migrated to Karachi after partition.

Business career

Yakoob moved to the United Arab Emirates in the 1960s and started gold business with an outlet in Dubai. He founded ARY Group in 1972 and launched a private television channel ARY Digital in 2000.
He was associated with the ARY Gold bribery case in which he paid a bribe to then Finance Minister of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari to get exclusive rights to import and trade gold in Pakistan. In January 1994, Schlegelmilch established a British Virgin Island based offshore company named Capricorn Trading, with Zardari as its owner. Nine months later, an account was opened at Citibank Dubai branch in the name of Capricorn Trading, and Yaqqib deposited $5 million in the account. Two weeks later, ARY paid a $5 million bribe.

Death

He died on 21 February 2014 in London, United Kingdom.