Pakistan's accountability watchdog has levelled fresh corruption allegations against jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, accusing him of "illegally" possessing and selling seven high-value watches and 10 other precious gifts linked to the state gift repository when he was in power, media reports said on Sunday.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) launched an inquiry against the 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi over the alleged misuse of the Toshakhana -- the state gift repository, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
The beleaguered former first couple has been convicted in earlier Toshakhana corruption cases as well.
In January, Khan and Bushra were sentenced to 14 years in jail each by an accountability court for alleged corruption in state gifts they got from the state repository. The sentence was later suspended by the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The previous Toshakhana graft case was filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the charges of hiring the sale of state gifts.
The NAB investigation centres on the illegal possession and sale of seven high-value watches and 10 other precious gifts, including diamond and gold jewellery, the report said.
According to the inquiry, items such as Graff and Rolex watches and diamond jewellery were allegedly sold without being legally owned or deposited in the Toshakhana, as required by law.
The Toshakhana is a department under the Cabinet Division that stores gifts given to rulers and government officials by heads of other governments and foreign dignitaries.
Under the rules governing Toshakhana – a Persian word meaning “treasure house” – government officials can keep gifts by paying a price, but first, the gift should be deposited.
The gifts were purchased/retained at “considerably lower rates” and were “routinely sold” without properly declaring them. The expensive Graff watch set was also allegedly sold without “retention”, according to the report.
The NAB’s findings suggest collusion between the buyers of the Graff watches and a private appraiser, who allegedly undervalued the watches by Rs 30 million.
The undervaluation, confirmed via an email from Toshakhana, meant that only Rs 20.1 million, or 20 per cent of the watches' actual value of Rs 100.9 million, was deposited into the government treasury, the report said.
“During the course of the inquiry, it was revealed that the value of luxury gift items was assessed in an unscrupulous and slipshod manner by a private appraiser […] was not even an industry expert and did not possess the required experience or expertise to make these assessments,” Geo News said, citing the report.
After the report findings, the accountability watchdog was authorised to conduct further probes against Khan and Bushra. Separate call-up notices had also been served to them, which they have challenged in the IHC.
The court will hear Bushra’s appeal on June 4 and Khan’s appeal on June 24, the report said.
The former-cricketer-turned-politician has been lodged at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since August last year. Since his removal from power in a no-confidence motion in April 2022, Khan has been convicted in at least four cases, including the cipher (secret diplomatic communication) case.
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