Farah Khan, spouse own 19 vehicles

LAHORE: Farhat Shahzadi aka Farah Khan, the alleged character involved in transfers and postings in Punjab, and her spouse own altogether 19 vehicles, including two Porsche cars, one of the most expensive brands.

According to the record of the Excise Department, as many as 12 vehicles, including two Porsche cars, are registered in her name while seven vehicles are registered in the name of her husband, Ahsan Jamil Gujjar.

Farah Khan purchased Porsche vehicles in 2013 and 2015. The Excise Department charged Rs1.18 million registration fees. In addition, she had also booked another Porsche car in 2019 and paid Rs36 million in advance.

According to sources, she also owns a house in Defence valued at Rs220 million to Rs250 million. Meanwhile, breaking the ice over allegations of corruption and amassing wealth from beyond sources of income, Farah Khan has termed the allegations as baseless and an attempt to malign her character.

Taking to her Twitter account, she refuted all the allegations levelled against her. “Neither am I politician nor have I ever meddled in official affairs,” claimed Farah, adding, “My husband has already explained about my business.”

Those who were linked with me have also denied the allegations, said Farah, adding that her family was in a state of shock to learn about the allegations. She appealed to stop character assassination of her and her family merely on hearsay.

In addition, Farah Khan’s spouse Ahsan Jamil Gujjar also rejected all the allegations against his wife as “absolutely baseless”.

Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’, anchored by Shahzad Iqbal, Ahsan admitted that his family had a very old relationship with the First Lady, Bushra Khan, saying Farah was made a soft target for being a woman and was being charged. He asserted that his family was targeted for punishing Imran for sins he had never committed.

To a question about bribery in transfers and postings, he asked why would any official pay 30 or 40 million rupees for a few months posting? If anyone has taken money, it should be proved, he added.

He said, “We haven’t escaped from the country. Those who themselves are absconding are accusing us of escape. Why would we escape. There is no case or inquiry pending against us. We will return at will. Pakistan is our country and we go abroad frequently.”

Gujjar said the data (about his family’s assets) being talked about are in fact the figures given to the FBR by his family whose business is not clandestine. “Those having properties worth trillions of rupees are not being questioned. All our properties are declared,” he added.

He said: “We admit we have 19 vehicles in our names. These include those which we have sold out, but the buyers have not secured their transfer in their names. We purchased a few vehicles in 2015. Then PTI was not in the government. One may move court against us, we will present proof there.”

He said that “poor Farah doesn’t have even a bank account of her own”, adding he was acquainted to Usman Buzdar before he became the chief minister. He said, “We are not office-bearers in the PTI. We have family relationship.” He said neither anyone was made the CM at their behest, nor removed.

He said, “We don’t have any property in Farah’s village that has expanded. Her village already had a road which was repaired. No new road was constructed.” Talking about the allegations levelled by PTI dissident Aleem Khan, he said, “Khan had differences with his party, not us. It’s their issue.” Commenting on Maryam Nawaz’s presser, he said he respected her mother Kulsoom Nawaz with whom he had worked, and hoped that her training must have left some impressions on Maryam. He said how could one assess the price of Farah’s handbag looking at the picture.

Talking about Farah’s picture in aircraft, he clarified that it was not government’s property; however, he refused to reveal the identity of aircraft’s owner. He explained that neither anybody gave a watch to Farah for selling it, nor his family dealt in selling watches.

To a question about his alleged role in transfer of DPO Rizwan Gondal, Gujjar said corruption was involved in Gondal’s transfer. He also rejected the allegation that he was the CM’s frontman.

Speaking on the programme, PMLN leader Ata Tarar alleged on oath that transfers in Punjab’s bureaucracy took place on the whims of Khawar Maneka and gave a few examples. Rebutting Tarar, Gujjar asked, where is the corruption element in all this?

When Tarar alleged that the First Lady was the beneficiary of money via Farah, and they would face case on the count, Gujjar rebuffed the allegation daring Tarar to make cases. Gujjar said neither they were ever asked for money nor they benefited Banigala.

Tareen Groups’s Aun Chaudhry also participated in the programme, asking Gujjar to return and answer his questions. He also asked Gujjar to state on oath if he influenced Buzdar for transfers. Gujjar said he never took oath to prove his point, advising Aun and Tarar to move court.