Toshakhana case: Dubai-based businessman says gifts given to ex-PM Imran Khan sold to him

The whole Toshakhana row over the sale of state gifts received by Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan is getting murkier by each passing day.Now, according to a report by Dawn newspaper, a Dubai-based businessman has claimed that he was sold some of the state gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch gifted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, to Imran Khan .

In an interview with TV channel Geo News, Umar Farooq Zahoor claimed that he bought the expensive watch for $2 million. At the time of sale in 2019, the watch was worth Rs 280 million.

According to Pakistan’s law, any gift received from dignitaries of a foreign state must be put in the state depository or the Toshakhana.

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The Norwegian-Pakistani millionaire further claimed to have evidence of buying the watch and three other gifts from Farhat Shahzadi, also known as Farah Gogi, for 7.5 million Dirhams in cash.

Shahzadi is allegedly a friend of Bushra Bibi, the wife of Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan.

Zahoor claimed that he was reached out to by former accountability minister Shahzad Akbar over the purchase of these gifts.

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“In March 2019, former accountability minister Shahzad Akbar said that he had a set of watches and if I was interested, I should reach out to Farah [Khan] (a close aide of Imran’s wife Bushra Bibi) as she needed help and didn’t have any asset buyer,” Zahoor told Geo News.

The businessman claimed that he was later on blackmailed and fake cases of money laundering were registered against him by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) at the behest of Akbar after he refused to listen to the demands made by his former wife Sophia Mirza.

However, Akbar, in a late-night tweet on Tuesday, denied having ever met Zahoor.

“It is sad that they are using a person against Imran Khan, whose citizenship has been revoked by Norway due to his crimes, who is wanted by Interpol, who has committed fraud in various countries and who has smuggled his daughters to Dubai using forged documents,” he said.

The Toshakhana issue has become a major sticking point for Imran Khan, as he was disqualified by the election commission for making “false statements and incorrect declaration”.

After months of denial, Khan on September 8 admitted in a written reply that he sold at least four presents he had received during his tenure as the prime minister.

(With inputs from agencies)

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