ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Mar­r­i­yum Aurangzeb said on Thursday that Rs980 million was spent on former prime minister Imran Khan’s helicopter travel from Prime Minister House to his private residence in Bani Gala during his time in office.

Besides, the main source of Mr Khan’s earnings was selling gifts he bought from Toshakhana on the cheap, she told a press conference.

Shortly after the presser, the minister released an official breakdown of the helicopter expenses allegedly incurred by Imran.

According to the detailed breakdown of expenses, the total expenditure from June 2018 to March 2022 was Rs984m — including Rs512m for maintenance and Rs472m for fuel and other charges under the head of “expenditure during flight”.

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The helicopter was used for a total of 2,723 flying hours during the three-and-a-half-year period at a total cost of Rs472.36m, reflecting an average cost of Rs275,000 per hour, the government document showed. However, the figures and the average did not add up and Dawn couldn’t independently verify the numbers.

Total flying hours and expenditure during flight per year was 289 hours at the cost of Rs37.9m during August-December 2018, 742.4 hours (Rs131.9m) in 2019, 729 hours (Rs143.6m) in 2020, 800.9 hours (Rs123.8m) in 2021, and 164.5 hours (Rs35.1m) in January-March 2022, according to the document.

Similarly, the amount spent on maintenance (spares and consumables) was Rs173.5m in the fiscal year 2019-20, Rs204.2m in 2020-21, and Rs134.3m during the ongoing fiscal year.

Toshakhana gifts

During her press conference, the information minister called on Mr Khan to provide the money trail for the gifts purchased from the Toshakhana and accused him of retaining a watch, a pair of cufflinks and a ring at an even lower price than what was being claimed.

“Where is the money trail for the gifts you (Imran) retained? Give the money trail for the Rs30 million you paid in one instalment to retain these three things,” Ms Aurangzeb said.

“Imran Khan bought gifts from Toshakhana at a 20 per cent price and sold them at four times higher prices,” she said, adding that the law required that it should be 50pc of the value.

She said Imran Khan’s words that “my gift, my wish are a sign of arrogance and his corrupt mindset”.

“The gift was not yours. It was in the prime minister’s name and cannot be sold,” she said.

Mr Khan’s income records with the Federal Board of Revenue did not reflect that he had Rs30m he paid to retain the gifts, she said.

Responding to a question about Shahzad Akbar, Mr Khan’s adviser for accountability and interior, leaving the country, Ms Aurangzeb said the previous setup was an “imported government” because around 20 members in the cabinet or special assistants and advisers were foreign nationals.

She said Mr Akbar was a US citizen, but he would not be able to escape the writ of the law.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2022