Pakistani-American tech entrepreneur and former CEO of TRG and AI firm Afiniti, Zia Chishti, is currently facing intensified legal pressures in the United States and Bermuda over taxes and asset transfers.
The long-running TRG saga, which began in November 2021 upon public disclosure in the US Congress of an arbitration award against Chishti for alleged sexual misconduct, has evolved into an international legal battle. He is now entangled in court cases spanning Pakistan, the United States, and Bermuda, facing allegations related to unpaid US taxes, asset transfers, and corporate governance disputes.
According to publicly available documents, in the US, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a tax levy against Chishti for over $10 million in unpaid tax liabilities, linked to his 2022 share sale in TRG International that Chishti says yielded him $50 million.
Chishti filed a petition in the US Tax Court in May 2025 appealing the levy and sought to have the entire case sealed, claiming that disclosure would cause “reputational harm” and could be used by “commercial adversaries.” However, Chief Judge Patrick Urda rejected Chishti’s request last month, stating that Chishti had ignored the court’s order to substantiate his claims. The court ruled that the public’s right of access outweighed Chishti’s vague assertions.
Meanwhile, in a case seeking asset freezing order against Chishti and his wife Sarah Pobereskin, the Supreme Court of Bermuda cited “solid evidence of a real risk” that Chishti would dissipate assets to avoid paying debts, including an unpaid costs award of $0.6 million related to Chishti’s bid to stop the 2024 restructuring of Afiniti, a TRG portfolio company. Chishti was the CEO of Afiniti until his resignation in 2021 following public disclosure in a US Congressional hearing of an arbitration award against him for alleged sexual harassment, assault and battery of a female Afiniti employee.
The Bermuda order details how, over three years, Chishti transferred about $45 million out of his own name: $3 million in 2022 for his wife to buy shares in her employer company, $25 million in 2023 for her purchase of shares of PSX-listed TRG Pakistan in a joint plan to take over that company, $15 million in 2023 to his wife to fund Cayman-based Isbei Ltd that has been sued by Afiniti for IP infringement, and $2 million to his mother to buy shares to influence TRG Pakistan board elections. Judges in Bermuda noted these “gifts” came while Chishti was already mired in tax liabilities, bank debt and mounting legal bills.
The court also ordered Chishti to submit to an oral examination under oath this November.
In July 2023, Chishti swore under oath in Bermuda that he was spending $1 million per month on legal fees, even as he failed to pay his taxes to the IRS. He also owes more than $9 million to TRG International, which won an arbitration ruling earlier this year that Chishti illegally pledged TRG Pakistan shares as collateral for a JS Bank loan. He remains in default on that Rs3 billion loan, with both TRG and JS Bank fighting in court over his pledged TRG Pakistan shares.
Chishti has tried to argue in his tax appeal that his inability to pay his taxes is due to stay orders in Pakistan against the transfer of his TRG Pakistan shares, claiming his TRG International share sale was paid in TRG Pakistan stock. But TRG International has flatly contradicted him, stating that it is a matter of public record that for his 2022 share redemption, he received large cash payouts and liquid stock of NASDAQ-traded IBEX which he subsequently sold according to his own US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. Court filings in Pakistan and Bermuda seem to support TRG’s assertions, indicating that in 2022, Chishti received $37 million in cash and 1.7 million shares of IBEX, totaling more than $61 million in value, well in excess of the $50 million stated by Chishti in his tax appeal.
A TRG International spokesman declined to comment on Chishti’s personal tax matters but added: “If the Bermuda court ordered and the IRS documents were true, it was egregious that instead of paying his taxes, Chishti was using those funds for a campaign to takeover TRG”.
Reached for comment regarding the IRS and Bermuda proceedings, Chishti acknowledged the existence of the IRS tax lien but stated: “the IRS has enforced no lien against any of my assets or those of my family. I am confident that I will prevail in my litigation with the IRS. As with any sensitive personal financial issues, I sought to have the related proceedings with the IRS sealed, but the US tax court declined to do so. The presence of such proceedings has created no substantive issues for me.”
On the Bermuda freezing order, Chishti stated: “I am confident that when the Bermuda Supreme Court finally hears the actual position that it will either modify or vacate this freezing order“. He further added, “any insinuation that I have improperly transferred $45 million is utterly false,” noting that he intends “to comply with every order of the Bermuda Supreme Court, including its requirement for an oral examination” in November 2025.
When asked about unpaid liabilities, Chishti said his assets and liabilities were a “private matter”.
What is the TRG saga?
TRG Pakistan, which has gotten caught up in a web of legal battles and attempts of takeover, was first rocked in November 2021 when an ex-employee of Afiniti, a TRG portfolio company, testified in a US Congressional hearing that she had won an arbitration award against Chishti, the then CEO and Chairman of Afiniti, for sexual harassment and assault against her.
Later, Afiniti announced that Chishti had stepped down from his role as chairman, CEO, and director of Afiniti, effective immediately. In the same month, Chishti also resigned from his role as the CEO and a director of TRG Pakistan Limited.
What began as a resignation of Zia Chishti has now escalated into a full-blown power struggle within TRG Pakistan.
