Mir Mohammad Ali khan also known as MirMak, is a Pakistani stockbroker and a fugitive who is known for allegedly misappropriating millions of dollars from multiple clients of his brokerage firm, among them individuals associated with the Gambino crime family.[1]
Mir Mohammad Alikhan | |
|---|---|
| میرمحمد علیخاں | |
| Born | Karachi, Pakistan |
| Organization | ecademy |
| Spouse | Shamaila Alikhan |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | mirmak |
During an interview, Alikhan stated that he was acting as an adviser to President Pervez Musharraf when The New York Times published a story about him in 2000.[2]
Early life
editKhan was born in Karachi, Pakistan. He studied at Sharfabad Government School for the first few years of his education. He moved to the United States in his early teenage years with his family. He worked for two years at a video rental store while he was a student at Rutgers University between 1985 and 1989.[1] Khan acknowledged later in interviews with the US regulators that he never earned a Rutgers degree.[1]
In a 2017 interview, Alikhan claimed his lineage to the royal family of Mir Osman Ali Khan.[2]
Legal issues
editIndictment in the United States
editIn early 1995, Khan founded a small brokerage firm named Klein Maus and Shire, situated on Wall Street in New York City.[1][3] According to a report by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the company was established in August 1994 in Indiana solely as a broker-dealer entity.[4]
Alikhan served as both the chairman and president of Klein, Maus & Shire as well The United States Financial Group Inc, with his brother-in-law, Asim Sain Kohli, held the position of chief operating officer at Klein, Maus & Shire.[5]
On 12 May 1999, the New York Post reported that the Gambino crime family was suing Klein, Maus & Shire, of which Khan was CEO, for fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. The firm closed in February 1999, and Khan subsequently fled to Pakistan with his wife and two sons.[6][7][8][9]
Alikhan was charged by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a Manhattan Grand Jury on May 17, 1999,[10] accused of five counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree for stealing funds from five clients, including Thomas Gambino. If convicted, he faced up to 25 years in prison on each count. Khan fled to Pakistan along with his wife and two sons,[11] leaving his brother-in-law Kohli and his employee Maurice A. Gross Jr. to face the consequences of the firm's collapse.[1][12]
In a 2016 interview, he claimed to have "defeated Zionists" in the SEC fraud cases.[13] In a 2017 interview, he called Wall Street as "Zionist-ic" and claimed that he closed company Klein, Maus & Shire, following a conflict with the Attorney General of New York Eliot Spitzer and also said that he "will fight one day the allegations that the (US) Securities and Exchange Commission has levelled against" him.[2]
Indictment in Pakistan
editIn May 2017, the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan held a press conference where he accused Alikhan for pump and dump stocks to his followers on social media and disclosed the discovery of a "cybercrime racket" operated by Alikhan. The Chairman clarified that Alikhan was apprehended "red-handed" for defrauding small investors by leveraging his influence on social media platforms and described Alikhan by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan as a "fraud" and a “self-styled stock guru”", and accused Alikhan of misleading people for his personal gain. Chairman further clarified that the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan had been closely monitoring Alikhan for two years as part of an ongoing investigation and announced their intention to file criminal charges against him.[14][15][16] The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan also confirmed that Alikhan is not registered with the commission as a regulated individual to provide investment advice.[2]
During an interview, Alikhan also claimed to have provided unofficial advice to Nadeem Naqvi, the Managing Director of the Pakistan Stock Exchange, for several years. However, Naqvi denied Alikhan's claims, labeling them as "inaccurate".[2]
Investors Lounge
editIn 2013, his company AMZ MAK Capital invested funds into a startup known as Investor Guide 360.[17] However in 2016, four entrepreneurs associated with the startup faced legal scrutiny over alleged copyright infringement after Alikhan, as complainant, accused them of breaching their agreement by leaving the company after the online portal was ready, taking the source code with them. However, Baqar Abbas Jafri, CEO of the startup, refuted the allegations, stating that the claims of theft by Alikhan were baseless. In response, they initiated separate defamation lawsuits against Alikhan.[18][19]
Jehan Ara, the head of Nest i/o, where the startup was incubated, also dismissed the case brought by Alikhan as lacking any merit. She described his accusations as false and without foundation.[20][21] Consequently, the entrepreneurs were exonerated of any wrongdoing by the Sindh High Court (SHC).[22] The SHC stated in its ruling that Alikhan did not provide evidence against the four entrepreneurs. Jafri also observed that Alikhan repeatedly failed to attend hearings at the SHC due to his inability to furnish evidence against the entrepreneurs.[23] It was also alleged that Alikhan had a "special interest" in commencing legal actions against the four entrepreneurs of the Investor's Lounge and that Alikhan was leveraging his influence to preemptively shutdown the startup, considering Investors Lounge as his competitor.[24]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Henriques, Diana B. (2 January 2000). "Was He Wiser Than the Wise Guys?". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "The journey of a 'fugitive' from Wall Street to Khayaban-e-Shahbaz". The Express Tribune. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Commission, United States Securities and Exchange (1999). SEC Docket. Securities and Exchange Commission. p. 1968. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
- ^ "BrokerCheck Report - Klein, Maus & Shire Inc" (PDF). FINRA. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
- ^ "Litigation Release No. 16148 / May 17, 1999". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ "Scam Hits Home For Mob Broker".
- ^ "Ruling for Gambinos In Suit Over Broker". The New York Times. 13 May 1999. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ Archives, L. A. Times (14 May 1999). "Former Broker Charged in Fraud Against Gambinos". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ "Suspected Gambino Broker Charged". Associated Press. 18 May 1999. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ "Stock Broker Indicted For $1.2 Million Securities Fraud". ag.ny.gov. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "Rediff On The NeT: Fugitive Financier Sought In Pakistan". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "S.E.C. Sues Broker Accused of Theft". The New York Times. Associated Press. 18 May 1999. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ "Mir Mohammad Ali Khan says he will 'fight ugly' and has defeated Zionists". Daily Pakistan. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Farooq, Asad; Siddiqui, Zain (19 May 2017). "The flamboyant Khan from Wall Street". dawn.com. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ Siddiqui, Asad Farooq (9 May 2017). "The story of MAK, the flamboyant Khan from Wall Street". dawn.com. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan" (PDF).
- ^ "Online research portal attracts investments from UAE". Brecorder. 23 September 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ Husain, Osman (8 October 2016). "Entrepreneurs in Pakistan accused of source code theft cleared of any wrongdoing". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ "Pakistan startup founders booked for plagiarising source code". DAWN.COM. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ "Four founders of online portal held for copyright infringement". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ "Four entrepreneurs arrested in Karachi for alleged copyright infringement". www.geo.tv. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ "SHC passes order in favor of Investors Lounge". Daily Pakistan Global. 27 September 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ "Young Pakistani entrepreneurs affirm legal victory over source code theft complain". Daily Pakistan Global. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ "The man who robbed the Italian Mafia is now after an innovative Pakistani startup, Investor's Lounge". Daily Pakistan Global. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2024.