Islamabad (HRNW) A senior government member on Friday accused former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan of not only retaining state gifts from the Toshakhana for a fraction of their assessed value, but in many cases gamed the estimated value to pay peanuts for gifts worth billions of rupees (millions of US dollars).
Addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Friday, the newly appointed Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Interior and Legal Affairs Atta Tarar, presented a new cache of documents showing the gifts received by Imran and his family during his tenure as prime minister, their actual price and the assessed value given by Toshakhana and the value paid by Imran to retain the gifts.
Tarar pointed to three gifts presented to Imran and the former first lady Bushra Bibi in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
He said that in 2019, Imran was presented with a jewelry set comprising a locket, a pair of earrings, two bracelets, and two rings.
The set has an estimated value of $2 million. But in the Toshakhana, the assessed value of the gift was shown to be just Rs1.119 million rupees.
To retain it, Imran paid around 50% of its value at Rs544,700
Tarar claimed that no one is permitted under the law to sell Toshakhana’s gifts,
Other precious gifts which were undervalued, Tarar claimed, included a jewelry set by Graff comprising rare yellow emeralds and diamonds. The set comprised a necklace a pair of earrings, a bracelet and a ring.
It was presented to the first lady by the leaders of a friendly country.
The set was valued at $15 million (Rs3.38 billion) but its assessed value in Toshakhana was shown to be just Rs18 million.
Imran retained it by submitting Rs9.03 million in the exchequer – around 50% of the assessed value.
In 2021, the first lady was presented a jewelry set by Italian luxury goods brand Bvlgari containing a necklace, a pair of earrings, a bracelet, and a ring.
The set had an estimated value of $5 million (Rs1.13 billion) but its assessed value was shown as just Rs5.86 million, Against this, Imran paid around half of its assessed value at Rs2.91 million.
“I ask him where is the set, either at his home or has it been sold to anyone?,” he asked.
He said that these were further examples of Imran pawning off state gifts to enrich himself having been implicated in selling a Graff watch, pen, ring and cufflinks set given by Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
“Unfortunately, a watch thief was prime minister of the country,” he lamented.