---
category: BCCI Scandal
relations:
- fn: 1
  type: head_of
  with: '[[Gulf Group]]'
- fn: 5
  reverse: true
  start: 1992-09
  type: investigated
  with: '[[Serious Fraud Office]]'
summary: The Gokal brothers, Abbas Gokal, Murtaza Gokal, and Mustafa Gokal, were Pakistani
  businessmen who ran the Gulf Group, a London-based shipping company.
tags:
- Person
- BCCI
- CIA
---

The Gokal brothers, [Abbas Gokal](/people/abbas-gokal/), Murtaza Gokal, and Mustafa Gokal, were [Pakistani](/places/pakistan/) businessmen who ran the [Gulf Group](/organizations/gulf-group/), a [London](/places/london/)-based shipping company.[^1] They were closely associated with [Agha Hasan Abedi](/people/agha-hasan-abedi/) and the [BCCI](/organizations/bank-of-credit-and-commerce-international/), and, according to the journalists Jonathan Beaty and S. C. Gwynne, were BCCI's largest debtor.[^1]

### Business Operations and BCCI Connections

The Gokal brothers used BCCI money to build their shipping empire, chartering more ships in one year than [China](/places/china/) and [India](/places/india/) combined during their heyday.[^2] Their loans from BCCI topped out at $831 million in 1990 and were never repaid, contributing significantly to BCCI's financial problems.[^2]

Mustafa Gokal was named Pakistan's minister for shipping, a position facilitated by Abedi, highlighting the intertwined relationship between BCCI and the Pakistani government.[^3] The Gokal brothers were also used by BCCI as a front for various transactions, including an attempt to acquire Chelsea National Bank in [New York City](/places/new-york-city/) in 1975.[^4]

### Prosecution

The [Serious Fraud Office](/organizations/serious-fraud-office/) opened its inquiry into BCCI's loans to the Gulf Group in September 1992. The brothers, then based in [Geneva](/places/geneva/), left for Pakistan, which had no extradition treaty with Britain, before Swiss police raided the group's offices. Abbas Gokal was arrested at a refuelling stop in [Frankfurt](/places/frankfurt/) on July 18, 1994, while flying to New York, and in November 1994 he agreed to extradition; British arrest warrants had also been issued for Mustafa and Murtaza.[^5][^6] After a 122-day trial at the [Old Bailey](/organizations/old-bailey/), Abbas was convicted in April 1997 of conspiracy to account falsely and conspiracy to defraud, and on May 8, 1997, he was sentenced to fourteen years; prosecutors put the fraudulent loans at 1.2 billion dollars.[^5][^7]

[^1]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 9.
[^2]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, pp. 139-140.
[^3]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 315.
[^4]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 11.
[^5]: "On the trail of Gokal," *Accountancy Age,* May 23, 1997. https://accountancyage.com/1997/05/23/on-the-trail-of-gokal/
[^6]: Saadawi, Danah. "BCCI chief debtor agrees to extradition," United Press International, November 2, 1994. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/11/02/BCCI-chief-debtor-agrees-to-extradition/2453783752400/
[^7]: "Gokal sentenced to 14 years for BCCI fraud," *The Irish Times,* May 9, 1997. https://www.irishtimes.com/business/gokal-sentenced-to-14-years-for-bcci-fraud-1.70650