ISLAMABAD: Anchorperson Shahzeb Khanzada Wednesday raised multiple questions over the Toshakhana transactions after PTI Chairman Imran Khan threatened to take him, Geo News, and Dubai-based businessman Umar Farooq Zahoor to court.
During an interview on Geo News’ programme “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath”, Zahoor claimed that Farah Gogi and Shahzad Akbar sold the expensive Graff wristwatch, worth at least Rs2 billion, to him — which was gifted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman to Khan.
In an affidavit, the businessman has listed four gifts he purchased from Farah — a close friend of Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, who was also embroiled in corruption cases recently.
Following the revelations, PTI leadership refuted the businessman’s claims and said that no one named Zahoor was sold the Toshakhana gifts. Then, Khan, announced that he would take action against Khanzada, Geo News, and the “fraudster”.
“Enough is enough. Yesterday Geo and Khanzada supported by handlers slandered me through a baseless story cooked up by a known fraudster and internationally wanted criminal,” he claimed.
After Khan’s threat, Khanzada spoke over the phone with Geo News and told the former prime minister that all stories are aired after due diligence and he was ready to accept the PTI chief’s challenge.
The journalist asked that if Khan believes that Zahoor was a “fraudster”, then why does he have the gifts? “If [Khan] did not sell the gifts to him, then whom did he sell it to?”
“We always run a story after complete investigation. It isn’t our responsibility to find out to whom were the gifts sold; it is Imran Khan’s responsibility to tell the people.”
Berating the former prime minister, Khanzada said that every time he hosts a show regarding PTI, he makes sure that the party’s leaders are invited, but they never show up.
“We will face the PTI chairman in any court he wants to go,” Khanzada said.
Before Khan, his party’s leadership held a press conference, where they mentioned the same thing — the story was baseless, Zahoor’s a fraudster, and they would move the courts.
In the press conference alongside PTI leader Zulfi Bukhari, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said the party has decided to initiate legal proceedings against Zahoor as his claims were baseless.
“In 2018, the Saudi crown prince gifted a watch to Imran Khan and the controversy over the watch’s price has been going on for a while now,” the former federal minister said.
Chaudhry said the watch was priced at Rs100 million, and in line with the law regulating Toshakhana, Khan sold it for more than Rs50 million in the market and filed capital gain tax on it.
Divulging into the details of Toshakahan’s procedures, the PTI leader said when the gifts given to state officials arrive in Pakistan, they are deposited into Toshakhana.
Defending the former prime minister, Chaudhry said the gift items were not sold to the Dubai-based businessman and Bushra Bibi’s friend had no role in their sale.
“The watch was not sold to anyone named Umar Zahoor. The watch was not handed over to Farah for sale and she has no role in it,” he said, as he levelled allegations against the millionaire.
Chaudhry said Zahoor has a total of three brothers who are serving jail time in Norway. He added that the businessman himself was facing criminal cases.
The PTI leader further said that Zahoor took his children to Dubai on illegal documentation.
