Farah Khan: the new ‘Richie Rich’, report

The wealth of Farah Khan has grown exponentially during the three and a half years of rule of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) at the Centre and in Punjab.

Farah Khan is a close friend of the first lady of Pakistan, Bushra Bibi. Her wealth grew four times from Rs231 million in 2017 to Rs971 million in 2021. Her filing for the tax year 2018 was nil, reports Fakhar Durrani for The News.

The News investigations reveal that Farah Khan’s fortune increased ever since the premier appointed Usman Buzdar as Chief Minister Punjab. 

“Farah, as per the documents, also availed the whitening of black money scheme (Tax Amnesty Scheme) in 2019 during Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s government and declared assets worth Rs328 million under the Tax Amnesty Scheme 2019.”

“The total assets of Farah Khan reached Rs699,137,839 inside Pakistan, Rs15,749, 479 outside Pakistan in the form of a flat in the UAE. Hence the total assets inside and outside Pakistan were recorded at Rs714,887,318. The net assets were reported as Rs697,502,318.”

Umar Cheema in his special report for The News writes, “Farah’s penchant for luxury items is also evident from her bid to buy a luxury car, Porsche, which she got booked through Porsche’s Pakistani dealer and paid a part amount of it (Rs33 million) as advance. This she declared in the nomination papers she submitted for the Senate election in March 2021. Later, Farah pulled out from the Senate race.”

“Her Birkin bag whose price is stated to be around $90,000 has been in the news. Her picture of holding the bag while sitting in a chartered plane is in circulation. The purse made by the French luxury brand Hermès is prepared on order. One can’t just get it by visiting a store. The order has to be placed months in advance,” writes Cheema.