ISLAMABAD: At a time when Imran Khan was urging overseas Pakistanis to invest in Pakistan, the former first lady’s close friend Farhat Shahzai and her family are planning to expand their business abroad and register companies in the United Kingdom.
Farhat’s family registered/acquired four companies whose business nature was mentioned in the documents as SIC or real estate business in UK during Imran’s prime ministership. Of these, three were registered or acquired by Farhat’s sister and one by Farhat and her husband from 2019 to 2021. In total, Farah’s sister Musrat Khan owns or is owned by half a dozen companies in the UK.
Farhat Shahzai — popularly known as Farah Khan/Farah Gogi and her husband Ahsan Iqbal Jameel are facing serious corruption charges and are currently living abroad. But for former Prime Minister Imran Khan, these allegations are just political victims of the current government. Imran openly defended Farah Khan in the press conference. The FIA has registered a case against him under the Anti-Money Laundering Act and the government is planning to bring him back to Pakistan through Interpol.
During the reign of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Farah Khan’s wealth increased rapidly. Since 2018, his declared wealth has more than quadrupled. Farah Khan, along with her husband Ahsan Iqbal Jameel, along with three other partners – one of the country’s leading medical doctors, acquired Gold Star Euro Limited, a company in the UK on 14 May 2020.
Reliable sources said that Farah and her husband acquired the company for money laundering purposes to transfer the money. However, Farah Khan’s husband Ahsan Iqbal Jameel denied these allegations and said that they are mere allegations.
Additionally, Farah Khan’s sister Musrat Khan registered a company Black Apple Investment Limited on 9 November 2021. Documents available with JEE News show that the company buys and sells real estate and manages real estate on a fee or contract basis.
Another company registered by Farah’s sister was Alamoz Limited on 19 August 2019. This company was established to deal with real estate business.
Almeez Farah Khan is also using the same name. Almooz is Farah Khan’s brand name as she owns various companies under this name in Pakistan, including Almooz Dairy. The FIA has also stated in its FIR that Farhat Shahzadi acquired a 10.3-acre industrial plot for Alamoz Dairy in Faisalabad Industrial Zone at a discounted rate.
Musrat Khan acquired another company DMK Enterprises Limited on July 4, 2019. The company was dissolved in March 2021. Apart from this, Musrat Khan owned some other companies, including Dayan Enterprises Limited, Maximum MK Tradings Limited and D Khans Constructions Limited etc.
From the documents available with JEE News, it has been revealed that there is money in the form of remittances in the accounts of Farah Khan, Ahsan Iqbal Jameel and Musrat Khan. But no document shows the exit. Farah Khan received foreign remittances worth Rs 4,190,400 while her sister received foreign remittances worth Rs 84 million in two years.
It is important to mention here that before Imran Khan came to power, Farah Khan’s declared assets were reported to be Rs 231,635,297 (Rs 231 million) in 2017, however, in the first three years of Imran Khan’s rule, Farah’s declared assets were 971 Million reached Rs. 2021. Farah and her husband Ahsan Iqbal Jameel also benefited from black money laundering (Tax Amnesty Scheme 2019) under Imran Khan’s government. Both Farah and her husband had declared Rs 328.7 million and Rs 20 million respectively under the Tax Amnesty Scheme 2019.
When contacted, Ahsan Iqbal Jameel said that FIA’s FIR is purely political revenge. Interior Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister’s adviser Atta Tarar and other government representatives have openly threatened Farhat Shahzai. He repeatedly mentioned the word red warrants in these threats.
In response to a question about the company’s acquisition in the UK, Ahsan Jameel said, “We were trying to build a hospital in Islamabad.” But it did not go ahead as planned. I had to offer land for this hospital. This has been a dead issue for a long time. No properties were attached to Eurostar. It was merely a corporation with assets in its name. Neither have we started any business with this company yet. We tried to expand the business but never went ahead with it,” he said.
When asked what was the reason for registering the company in the UK when the hospital was being built in Pakistan, Ahsan Iqbal Jameel commented, “I think many Drs. Advised abroad that they would only participate in such companies. Several names were considered. All this remained in the planning stages. No financial transaction took place. I assured the group that I would contribute the land. None of my companies are operating overseas. I told you this was the planning stage. The matter did not come down to the ground,” he said.
To a question about the proposed location of the hospital, he said, “We have not finalized the exact location. Only if it comes to that stage. We are tax payers and all properties and funds Those in question have been declared and tax paid. There is no evidence of any kind of corruption. Why hurt everyone who even shook hands with us,” commented Ahsan Iqbal Jameel.
He asked the correspondent to include his version in detail. “Mr Durrani, I have submitted my honest answers to most of your questions. I expect an honest relay from them,” he said.
JEE News had also sent a detailed questionnaire to Musrat Khan, but he did not respond till the story was filed.
