The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has summoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi on March 9 in connection with the Toshakhana reference.
The anti-graft watchdog’s Rawalpindi branch summoned the PTI chief hours after NAB Chairman Aftab Sultan tendered his resignation after reportedly refusing to “toe the line”.
In its notice to Khan, NAB wrote: “The competent authority has taken cognizance of an offence allegedly committed by the accused persons under the provisions of NAO, 1999.”
The questions on gifts included in the notice are on six Rolex watches and an iPhone given by the Chief of Staff of the Qatari Armed Forces.
On November 19, NAB had taken notice of the alleged non-disclosure of the actual value of gifts received by the former prime minister, his wife, and other cabinet members.
An investigation by news organisation Fact Focus reveals that former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi kept all 112 presents worth Rs142.02 million from the Tosha Khana of Pakistan.
The former PM and his wife Bushra Bibi have retained everything that was gifted to them by different states. The gifts include luxurious Rolex watches, gold and diamond jewellery, cufflinks worth millions, expensive dinner sets and perfumes. Not only that, they also kept a book worth Rs. 500, a tablemat, a samsonite bag and even a tasbih.
The most expensive gift was a Graff watch worth Rs 85 million (Eight crore and fifty lac rupees), gifted to PM Khan by Saudi crown prince Muhammad Bin Salman when he visited Saudi Arabia on September 18, 2018. Instead of giving it the Tosha Khana, which is what every prime minister and his family is bound to do, Khan sold the watch in Dubai, according to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Khan also declared tax returns on the watch when filing his taxes in 2020-21. He apparently paid Rs. 20 million (2 crore), which was 20 percent of the estimated value, according to his tax returns.
List of some of the gifts:
One pair of cufflinks worth Rs. 5,670,000.
Five Rolex watches
A table mat of Rs. 30,000
Wall hanging worth Rs. 15,000
One locket with chain (Gold+Diamond) worth Rs. 269,350
Carpet worth Rs. 22,000
In his returns for the financial years 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21, Imran Khan did not mention any of the Tosha Khana presents that were kept. Bushra Bibi, Khan’s wife, did not file a tax return at this time. Bushra Bibi, in reality, has never submitted a tax return in her life and was just registered with the Pakistani tax authorities in July 2021.
