Imran’s representatives wanted cash for watch gifted by Saudi crown prince
A set of especially crafted watch, gold pen, ring and cufflinks, which were gifted to then prime minister Imran Khan by Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, were sold for as little as $2 million.
This was disclosed by the man who had bought the set from Farah Shehzadi aka Gogi.
While speaking exclusively on SAMAA TV on Tuesday, the buyer, Dubai-based businessperson Umar Farooq disclosed that he was a collector of exotic watches.
He added that he was approached by Imran Khan’s former Asset Recovery Unit head Mirza Shahzad Akbar with a query on whether he would be interested in buying a rare watch.
When he said he would be interested, negotiations began.
Farooq explained that he took the watch and the rest of the set to a watch merchant to have it appraised.
“I asked them to authenticate what kind of a watch it was to which I was told this was a one-of-a-kind diamond encrusted Graff watch with a Khana-e-Kaaba watch face and that it was a ‘masterpiece’.”
He was told that it had a market price of around $12million to $13 million.
When he asked that if someone wished to purchase it, how much should they pay for it, Farooq said he was told that if he can get a deal for it for around $5 million to $7 million, then that would be a good deal.
Thereafter in their negotiations, Farooq said that he managed to settle on a price of around $2 million dollars.
One aspect of the low price was that the seller wanted payment in cash.
Farooq said that after agreeing to the deal, he withdrew $2 million from his bank and gave it to the watch owner’s representatives.
Asked who came to receive the watch, Farooq pointed to Imran’s front woman, Farah Gogi.
“Shehzad Akbar informed me that Farah Gogi will bring the [expensive] watch to Dubai.”
He unveiled that Farah Gogi brought the watch to him in his office and that it was she to whom he gave the money
What do Toshakhana records say?
According to the records of the Toshakhana, the Graff watch set with the pen, ring and cufflinks was gifted to Imran during his visit to Saudi Arabia in September 2018.
The records show that the the value of the entire set was assessed to be about Rs100.92 million. Of this, the watch alone was assessed to be worth some Rs85 million.
The pair of cufflinks were assessed to be worth Rs5.67 million, the pen for Rs1.5 million and the gold and diamond ring for Rs8.75 million.
Imran paid around 20% of the assessed value of the gifts to retain them, or around Rs20.27 million.
In September 2018, a US dollar cost around Rs123.74 in the interbank trade, which puts the assessed value of the watch set at $815,581.1. The watch alone was worth – per the assessed value – $686.924.2.
The payment of around Rs20.27 million by Imran Khan to retain the gift that that time comes to just $163, 852.
This means that Imran Khan’s net profit on selling the watch – if Umar Farooq’s claims of paying $2 million are to be believed – comes to an eyewatering $1.84 million.
