Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's wife's close friend Farhat Shahzadi's wealth rose exponentially during his government, The News International reported.
Farhat Shahzadi and her family were busy expanding their businesses in other nations and registering companies in the United Kingdom when Imran Khan was asking overseas Pakistanis to invest in the country.
Farhat Shahzadi's family registered/acquired four companies whose nature of business mentioned in the documents is SIC or dealing in real estate business in the UK during Imran Khan's government, as per the news report. Three companies were registered/acquired by Farhat's sister and one by Farhat Shahzadi and her husband from 2019 to 2021.
Farhat Shahzadi's sister Musarat Khan owns or has owned around half a dozen companies in the UK. Farhat Shahzadi commonly known as Farah Khan/Farah Gogi and her husband Ahsan Iqbal Jamil, who are currently living abroad, have been facing serious corruption allegations. However, Imran Khan has termed these allegations as political victimisation by the present government, according to The News International report.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has defended Farhat Shahzadi in a press conference. The FIA has lodged a case against her under the Anti-Money Laundering Act and the government is planning to bring them back to Pakistan through Interpol.
Farah Khan's wealth increased exponentially during Imran Khan's regime, as per The News International report. Her declared wealth increased by over four times from 2018 onwards. Farah Khan, her husband Ahsan Iqbal Jamil along with three other partners acquired the company Goldstar Euro Limited on May 14, 2020, in the United Kingdom.
Citing sources, the report said that Farah Khan and her husband acquired the company for money laundering purposes. However, Farah Khan's husband Ahsan Iqbal Jamil refuted these allegations and called them "mere allegations."
Farah Khan's sister Musarat Khan registered a company Black Apple Investments Limited on November 9, 2021. According to the documents, the company deals in buying and selling real estate and management of real estate on a fee or contract basis.
Al Muez Limited was another company registered by Farah Khan's sister in 2019. Farah Khan also own different companies with this name in Pakistan, including Al Muez Dairy. In its FIR, the FIA stated that Farhat Shahzadi acquired an industrial plot of 10.3 acres for the Al Muez Dairy in the Faisalabad Industrial Zone at a subsidised rate, as per the news report.
Musarat Khan acquired another company DMK Enterprises Limited on July 4, 2019. However, the company was dissolved in March 2021. Besides this, she owned some other companies, including Dayyan Enterprises Limited, Maximum M K Tradings Ltd and DKhans Constructions Limited, etc.
According to the documents, there is an inflow of money in the form of remittances in Farah Khan, Ahsan Iqbal Jamil and Musarat Khan's accounts. However, no documents revealed outflows, the report said.
Before Imran Khan came into power, Farah Khan's declared assets were reported to be worth Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 231,635,297 in 2017, as per the news report. However, within the first three years of Imran Khan's government Farah's declared assets reached PKR 971 million in 2021.
Farah Khan and her husband also availed themselves of the whitening of black money (Tax Amnesty Scheme 2019) during Imran Khan's government. The couple had declared PKR 328.7 million and PKR 20 million respectively under the Tax Amnesty Scheme 2019, as per the news report.
Ahsan Iqbal Jamil has termed the FIA's FIR "completely political victimisation." He further said that Pakistan's interior minister, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, PM's Adviser Ata Tarar and other government representatives have publicly made such threats against Farhat Shahzadi.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
