Pakistan Embassy shielding Mahmood Azhar Chaudhry on Malawi’s diplomatic status fraud

….Dar es Salaam mission ignores 16-point questionnaire as Islamabad journalist Shafqat accuses government of shielding alleged fraudster Mahmood Azhar Chaudhry who mounted Pakistan state plaque outside private house…..

**BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-**The Pakistan High Commission in Dar es Salaam has stayed mute on what action, if any, it is taking against Blantyre-based businessman Mahmood Azhar Chaudhry, who claimed diplomatic status as Pakistan’s Deputy Consul and Deputy Ambassador in Malawi despite holding a Malawian passport and mounted an official Pakistan state plaque outside his private house.

The Embassy’s silence, now entering its third week after a formal questionnaire was sent, is being described by investigators as deliberate non-cooperation, while a renowned journalist in Islamabad has accused the Pakistani Government of shielding a man with alleged fraudulent activities.

For nearly three years, Mahmood Azhar Chaudhry operated from a private house in Sunny Side, Blantyre, where he flew Pakistan’s flag, erected a metal plaque bearing the national emblem and name of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan outside his gate, mounted diplomatic CC plates on private vehicles, and claimed duty-free import privileges at the Malawi Revenue Authority. He introduced himself to government ministries, police officers and businesspeople as Pakistan’s official representative.

Legal and diplomatic experts say the mounting of a Pakistan state plaque outside a private residence is a very serious offence, both under Pakistan’s own laws on misuse of state emblems and official seals, and under Malawi’s Penal Code on false representation and impersonation of a public office. A state plaque is only authorized to be displayed at premises approved by the sending state and the host government after exequatur. A private house in Sunny Side never received such approval.

That claim is further complicated by a critical fact now confirmed by multiple sources: Mahmood Azhar Chaudhry is a holder of a Malawian passport. Under international diplomatic practice, a sending state does not appoint its own host-country national holding a local passport as a deputy ambassador or career consul with full diplomatic privileges, and any honorary appointment still requires vetting, formal appointment and an exequatur from the host government.

In October 2022, Malawi’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified that point in writing, stating that while Mahmood Azhar Chaudhry had been issued an identity card “in connection with processes relating to the establishment of an honorary consulate,” he was “NOT a holder of diplomatic or consular status entitled to diplomatic privileges and immunities.”

The clarification came after his claim was tested in court. According to court accounts, Mahmood Azhar Chaudhry filed an affidavit under oath claiming he was a diplomat. When lawyer Lusungu Gondwe cross-examined him and demanded he produce his appointment letter, exequatur and accreditation documents, he failed to produce any. The magistrate then directed verification from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which produced the 2022 letter disowning any diplomatic status.

That courtroom collapse should have ended the matter. It did not, because Pakistan has refused to publicly disown him.

On 13 October 2026, this publication sent a 16-point questionnaire to the High Commissioner of Pakistan in Tanzania, copied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad, seeking specific answers on action being taken. Among the questions: Has Pakistan ever appointed Mahmood Azhar Chaudhry? Did Pakistan authorize him to erect a Pakistan state plaque outside a private house in Blantyre? What is the action taken after Malawi’s 2022 clarification? Has any facilitation letter for his ID card, CC plates or MRA clearance been withdrawn? Has a Note Verbale been issued to Lilongwe confirming he is not a diplomat? Has a disciplinary, criminal or administrative action been initiated in Pakistan against him for misuse of Pakistan’s flag, emblem and name? Will Pakistan cooperate with Malawi Police, the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Director of Public Prosecutions?

The deadline of 14 October passed. Three written reminders followed. The messages were delivered and read. As of 31 October, no acknowledgement, no response and no document has been provided.

A senior criminal justice source said the refusal to state action being taken is blocking prosecution. “He holds a Malawian passport and claims to be a Pakistani diplomat in Malawi, and he puts a Pakistan state plaque outside his own house. That is a very serious offence on its face. We need Pakistan to say officially: what action have you taken? Have you terminated him? Have you reported him as an impostor for misuse of your state emblem? Without that, he tells police Islamabad will still confirm him, and the Embassy’s silence becomes his defence,” the source said.

The silence is now causing open frustration in Pakistan itself.

Islamabad-based freelance journalist Syed Imran Shafqat, who investigated Mahmood Azhar Chaudhry’s background and described him in a YouTube investigation as a fraudster who “has a very bad record even back in his country,” said he is disappointed by his own government’s failure to act.

“I am frankly disappointed and frustrated. How can a man holding a Malawian passport claim to be Pakistan’s Deputy Ambassador in Malawi, fly our flag, put a Pakistan plaque outside his house, use diplomatic plates, and Islamabad says nothing? This is fraud on its face and insult to our state emblem. If he is not our diplomat, and he is not, why is the Government of Pakistan shielding him by staying silent? Why has no action been taken against him for putting a fake Pakistan plaque outside his house? Why has no FIR been registered? Why has no public disclaimer been issued?” Shafqat said.

Shafqat accused the Foreign Office and the High Commission in Dar es Salaam of damaging Pakistan’s reputation through inaction.

“Every day Pakistan stays mute, it looks like we have an interest in protecting him. Putting an official state plaque outside a private house to make it look like an embassy is not a small mistake, it is a criminal impersonation of the state. We have hardworking Pakistanis in Malawi who respect the law. This man Mahmood Azhar Chaudhry with a Malawian passport using Pakistan’s name to get duty-free cars is stealing from Malawi and embarrassing Pakistan. The government must act: issue a Note Verbale to Malawi that he is not a diplomat, confirm that plaque was never authorized, publish the list of real honorary consuls, withdraw any letter that was misused, and give all files to Malawi Police to facilitate arrest and prosecution. That is what a responsible state does,” he said.

Legal experts say holding a Malawian passport makes the claim of full diplomatic immunity even more untenable, as a Malawian national cannot claim immunity against his own country, and duty-free privileges cannot be extended to a local passport holder claiming to be a foreign diplomat without clear host-state approval. The unauthorized erection of a state plaque, they say, constitutes obtaining by false pretence and unlawful use of a foreign state emblem to mislead the public.

The Pakistan High Commission had been asked to clarify whether it ever verified Mahmood Azhar Chaudhry’s nationality, whether it vetted him through NADRA and FIA, whether it ever authorized the plaque and inspected the Sunny Side property, and what action it has taken since 2022 to prevent misuse of its emblem.

It has refused to answer.

This publication has also established that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lilongwe wrote to the High Commission seeking formal clarification after its 2022 letter. That request has also not been met with a public position.

For victims in Blantyre who paid for “consular services” and for officials who processed his papers believing the flag and the plaque, the absence of action is now the central question.

As Shafqat put it: “If Mahmood Azhar Chaudhry is a fraudster holding a Malawian passport and pretending to be our ambassador with a fake plaque on his house, arrest him. If Islamabad has no connection to him, prove it by acting. Silence is not neutrality. Silence is shielding.”

The Pakistan High Commission in Dar es Salaam and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad were again contacted yesterday for comment on what action is being taken against Mahmood Azhar Chaudhry. No response was received by press time.

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