LAHORE – Real estate tycoon Malik Riaz has distanced himself from an audio clip being attributed to him and his daughter Amber Riaz in which both allegedly talked about a expensive gift for former First Lady Bushra Bibi.
In a statement shared on Twitter, Riaz said: “The audio attributed to me on the social media is the product of this [deep-fake] technology.
“I do not want to be involved in the campaign of any political party but it is a fact that my voice was misused for political gain,” he added.
— Malik Riaz Hussain (@MalikRiaz_) June 5, 2022
“I have been attacked repeatedly, now my family is also targeted. I intend to initiate legal proceedings in this matter and I will approach every legal forum to track down the people behind this conspiracy,” the business tycoon concluded.
Earlier, PML-N leader Ataullah Tarar, who is also spokesperson for the Punjab government, and PML-N Information Secretary Azma Bukhari made the alleged audio recording public during a press conference in Lahore. It involves a conversation between Malik Riaz and his daughter Amber Riaz.
The two could be heard discussing how former first lady Bushra Bibi refused to accept a three-carat diamond ring from them.
In the alleged audio, Amber could be heard telling her father that she sent the then-first lady a three-carat diamond ring, but she refused to accept it.
Without mentioning in the audio the name of the person she was going to meet, Amber said she had a meeting with “her” on Saturday, therefore a five-carat diamond ring should be arranged for Bushra Bibi before the meeting, adding that the ring would cost Rs10 million.
Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), also rejected the audio tape as “propaganda”.
PTI rejects leaked audio call between Malik Riaz, his daughter
