Toshakhana case: Another case registered against former PM Imran Khan, wife for 'forgery, fraud'

Islamabad: The Pakistan government has registered a case of fraud and forgery against former prime minister Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and their close aides for allegedly preparing and submitting fake and forged receipts regarding Toshakhana gifts, a media report said on Wednesday.

A case has been registered here against Khan, 70, Bushra Bibi, former accountability minister Shehzad Akbar, Zulfi Bukhari, Farah Gogi (a close aide of Bushra Bibi) and others for getting “illegal benefits” and for “active collusion, connivance, by assisting, abetting, conspiring, and engaging with each other fraudulently", Geo News reported.

The Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries.

The accused "not only prepared, fake, forged receipts regarding Toshakhana gifts such as a watch, cuff links but also submitted/executed the same as genuine on which an independent verification is being conducted and the same has established these receipts as fake and forged”, the report said.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and his associates submitted forged receipts of the Toshakhana gifts including the rare Graff wristwatch gifted by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the former premier.

After months of evading the topic, Khan confirmed in September last year that he had sold at least four presents he had received during his tenure and Dubai-based multi-millionaire businessman Umar Farooq Zahoor, who currently owns the watch, had shown the watch on live TV saying he had bought the MasterGraff Tourbillon Minute Repeater from Farah Gogi for USD 2 million.

The watch was worth approximately Rs 280 million at the time of sale in 2019.

The new FIR has been registered after Islamabad’s leading watch dealer and “Art of Time” shop owner Muhammad Shafiq said in a written affidavit that he had not sold the Rolex watch and that the PTI leaders had faked his shop’s name and forged receipts for their political purposes in the Toshakhana scandal.

The FIR also said the accused persons were involved in acts of forgery supported by the fact that the shop owner has also confirmed the fabrication on the part of the accused persons.

“As per the record, no such transaction regarding the sale and purchase of the above-mentioned items has ever taken place with such nominated accused persons and neither the accused person has sold them any such items nor such items were purchased by him in person or through any of his agent/associate," the FIR stated.

The application is supported by an affidavit provided by Shafiq.

“I do hereby declare that we have never bought or sold Rolex watches (Platinum or Steel Gold) worth PKR 7 Million to anyone. My shop’s name and our company letterhead/receipt along with the stamp are being misused without our permission to cater to certain politically motivated media houses. I shall pursue legal action and criminal proceedings against anyone who wishes to banish our company’s reputation. This statement is being issued in accordance with Pakistani laws and we have the right to file a claim in courts to protect our customers and their reputation,” he alleged in the FIR.

The Toshakhana issue over the sale of state gifts received by the cricketer-turned-politician became a major issue in national politics after the Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified the former premier for making “false statements and incorrect declaration”.

Khan is facing over 100 cases, while Bushra is nominated in two cases -- Toshakhana (gifts) and the Al-Qadir Trust case.

The Al-Qadir Trust case alleges that the PTI chief and his wife obtained billions of rupees and land from a real estate firm for legalising Rs 50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government.