'Bushra Bibi's friend Farah Khan carried handbag worth $90,000'

• PML-N leader Miftah Ismail alleges First Lady Bushra Bibi’s close aide Farah Khan has handbag worth $90,000.
• Former finance minister says in local currency, that bag was worth Rs16.2 million.
• Sources say first lady’s friend Farah Khan left for Dubai on April 3.

ISLAMABAD/DUBAI: PML-N leader and former finance minister Miftah Ismail alleged on Tuesday that the handbag carried by First Lady Bushra Bibi’s close aide Farah Khan costs $90,000.

The former minister's comment came after a picture of Farah went viral on social media.

Ismail, while addressing a press conference alongside former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, said that PML-N has been saying the same things that the estranged PTI leader Aleem Khan had previously said about Farah.

The PML-N leader alleged that the first lady’s close aide “took the money” for the transfer of civil servants in Punjab.

“Who did that money go to?” asked Ismail, adding that the PTI was claiming that Farah Khan cannot be a corrupt person as she was a “private person”.

“She can engage in corrupt activities because she is friends with the wives of public officeholders. She was someone’s frontwoman,” alleged Ismail.

Including Usman Buzdar into his broadside, Ismail said the former Punjab chief minister was “also someone’s frontman”.

“When Aleem Khan claimed to inform Imran Khan about Usman Buzdar's corruption but Imran Khan kept him, who was Buzdar paying?” wondered Ismail. 

He also asked who was Farah Khan paying the bribes.

The former finance minister said that a picture was circulating since yesterday showing her with an allegedly high-value bag.

“Farah Gujjar, while using a Punjab government's plane, had a bag that was worth $90,000,” claimed Ismail. He added that in local currency, the bag was worth "Rs16.2 million".

The PML-N leader shared that the masses were told to have “one roti” instead of two, adding that people bought a single roti due to the rising wheat and sugar prices but Farah Khan’s bag was worth Rs16.2 million.

Farah Khan reaches Dubai: sources

On the other hand, sources told Geo News that the first lady’s friend, whose real name is Farah Shahzadi, reached Dubai on April 3.

Officials privy to the knowledge said that she used an international airline with the number EK623 to reach Dubai and used a Pakistani passport to travel to the country.

Geo News contacted close friends of Farah Shahzadi in the UAE for a response and requested her to answer the questions.

The friends said that they were not “in a position” to respond to the allegations at this point, adding that they have conveyed the message to Farah.

“Message has been sent to Ms Farah, response to the allegations will be provided soon,” said people close to the first lady’s aide.