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Before rejecting, please see that this story is posted by Mr. Rauf Klasra not Ansar Abbasi or Hamid Mir.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: Honourable prime ministers are supposed to leave behind legacies but what do you say about individuals who don’t even leave behind things that were never theirs to begin with, such as official gifts received while in office? The irony gets more profound when the gentleman happens to be declared billionaire and prone to jumping at every opportunity to harp on the mantra of ethics in dispensation of responsibilities of a public office.
Welcome to the world of former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, who proving a calculating banker to core took away not a dozen or two but a hearty gift hamper of 395 official gifts given by foreign dignitaries.
Technically speaking there is a provision for a prime minister to retain an official gift after paying a fair price for the same, but who gets to evaluate that fair price? The same men and women who serve at the pleasure of the chief executive of the country so we can well imagine the outcome. And this instance was no exception either. Array of the gifts was diverse, fascinating and if the deliberately low ridiculous pricing of the government bureaucracy is to be believed then apparently every world dignitary is a cheap skate because when you price a hand bag given by Tony Blair’s wife at Rs300 (under 2 pounds sterling) what else can one say. Records also show that he walked away with a whole golf kit (presented by CNN media) after getting it evaluated at just Rs1,000. You can’t even get a quality putter at thrice that amount, let alone an entire Golf Kit. Who are you kidding here Mr Aziz?
Mr Aziz’s luxurious abodes in London and the US must be boasting a treasure trove of world’s finest carpets at the lowest prices ever, surely because judging from the gift list, the citi-banker turned PM had a penchant for collecting rare carpets at rag prices. The former premier can now also boast a drawer full of the world’s most expensive watches including Cartier, Rolex and Piaget which he all ‘purchased’ for a song.
The gifts bagged by Mr Aziz included diamonds, gold, gold crowns, bracelets, necklace, pairs of gold coins, jewellery, golf kits, daggers, repeater guns, jewellery boxes, gold plated crowns, brooch and pair of ear rings made of gold and pearls, mobile phones, half a dozen wrist watches, etc., and to facilitate the prime minister of the day, their value was (criminally) understated to help him retain them at ridiculously low prices by the Cabinet Division. According to informed officials the real value was a minimum of Rs50 million plus.
The prices of some foreign branded goods are calculated so cheap and low that one wonders whether the foreign dignitaries were either joking with our prime minister or our officials were deliberately under valuing them for understandable reasons.
One source said, had these gifts been deposited in the Toshakhana of Cabinet division for auction, as it happens sometimes under the rules, the country might have got over Rs50million. But Mr Aziz took all these gifts with him to decorate his houses instead of helping the country generate some cash, the sources said. His wife Rukhsana Aziz also was one of the beneficiaries of this official ‘plunder sale’ in the name of these gifts given to the spouses by the visiting heads of the state or during their foreign trips.
The interesting part of this whole episode is that these bracelets and necklaces were being retained by PM Aziz while the twice elected prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was being dragged in the Swiss courts for taking just one necklace from a private firm in her capacity as the prime minister of Pakistan and several politicians including Asif Zardari and Yousuf Raza Gilani were being tried by the NAB in the name of accountability.
Shaukat Aziz also took four expensive daggers and one repeater gun along with him which were gifted by government of Oman in addition to valuable wrist watches worth over Rs1 million each. Four bottles of perfumes also from Oman were valued at only Rs2,500 each. Even a gift given by Chinese prime minister was valued at laughable price of Rs350. A necktie by Malaysian prime minister was valued at Rs400 and gifted to Mr Aziz to wear with his thousand dollar suits. One foreign made shirt was valued at only Rs1,000 given by one foreign prime minister and Mr Aziz retained it for free.
However, Mr Aziz did cough out a fortune of Rs1.6 million to the government to retain gold coins, necklaces, watches, jewellery, crowns, pearls, repeater guns etc. Who cares about the bitter fact that in reality these gifts were valued at over Rs50m. Like they say, what are a few millions between a country and its prime minister.
Aziz was probably the only prime minister of Pakistan who even took a gift valued at a paltry Rs150 to his house, free of cost of course. Even three expensive gifts given by Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan were valued again at a shocking low price of Rs1,700 and so forced our PM to keep them free of cost. Shaukat Aziz apparently made it part of his daily life during his days at the prime minister house to pocket all the gifts which were either given to him by the visiting foreign dignitaries or during his foreign trips by the host governments.
Saudi King was the most generous amongst the foreign dignitaries who gave gifts to Aziz. He gave one necklace worth Rs1 million, a bracelet worth Rs264,730, a pair of earrings worth Rs254,750 and finger ring worth Rs73,650. But, Mr Aziz paid only Rs243,600 to retain these gifts of the Saudi monarch.
Sultan of Brunei gave eight valuable gifts and again the evaluation made by his subordinates is laughable; wrist watch (Asprey No 663189- Rs350,000), necklace Rs155,000; coins, suiting cloths for six suits Rs6000; dagger Rs5,500.
Prime Minister Bahrain gave gifts of wrist watch Rolex Rs550,000; watch Corum with pen Rs75,000; necklace 105,200, two wrist watches by Cartier Rs120,000 which Mr Aziz also took home. Acting secretary general Ne Komeito from Japan also gave one necklace and pair of tops which was valued at only at Rs10,000 and was retained by Mr Aziz free of cost.
PM of UAE gave one wrist watch Rolex worth Rs1.3million which Aziz retained after paying only Rs201,000. Govt of UAE also gave him one wrist watch Roberger watch worth Rs350,000, another wrist watch Bertolucci Rs300,000 and one lap top.
A cursory review of these expensive gifts and their abysmally low determined value, show how the civil bureaucracy had been accommodating Aziz to retain the expensive foreign gifts either absolutely free of cost or for a pittance.
Following gifts were retained mostly free of cost or after paying token money by one of the richest prime ministers of Pakistan whose tax return showed that he owned property worth Rs7 billion.
The News is in possession of the complete list of 393 gifts given by surprisingly ‘poor foreign elite’ but owing to paucity of space just a few of most interesting gifts are being listed in this report to show how otherwise expensive gifts were grossly undervalued and whisked away free of cost and shamelessly by someone who had held the purse strings of the country for eight long years, first as finance minister and then as the prime minister.
Gifts: Iranian Carpet: Rs 10,000; jewellery box by PM Malaysia: Rs8,500 (with this paltry amount you can’t get a lowly pewter set of four tumblers mind you), dinner set gifted by president of Sri Lanka: Rs17,000, coffee (08) pieces set by Chinese minister valued at Rs1,500, paper weight, paper cutter, four books by Jordan prince Rs1,700, one ball point by Japan delegation Rs2,500, ball point cross by US secretary of state Rs2,000; Ceramic tray by Netherlands minister Rs1,000; souvenir duly framed by Iran Rs4,000, dagger by chairman Dubai Islamic bank Rs14,000; decoration piece by Malaysia Rs1,200; Ding food vessel by Chinese company Rs500; pen Mont Blanc by Ankara mayor Rs27,000; four bottle of perfumes by Oman Rs10,000; carpet by Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai Rs8,000; carpet by Custodian of mausoleum of Imam Raza Iran Rs30,000; two wall hanging from China Rs3200; Qehwa set by PM Thailand Rs4,000; carpet by President Azerbaijan Rs7,000; silver bowl by FM Thailand Rs1,800; Chess playing set by Finance minister Kyrgyz republic Rs5,000; Walkman Sony FM Japan Rs8,000; replica of Ghanta Ghar Faisalabad, wooden frame and crown in 21 kt gold Rs34,000; Ceramic plate from PM China Rs350; neck tie Malaysia Rs400; pair of cufflinks Rs12,000; pair of cufflinks (Mont Blanc) by Malaysia minister Rs15,000; wall hanging, capping, pillows by PM Malaysia Rs11,000; decoration piece for Rukhsana Aziz by HC Brunei Rs7,000; culture picture by Brunei sultan gave 8 gifts including wrist watch (Asprey No 663189- Rs350,000), necklace Rs155,000; coins, suiting cloths six Rs6,000; dagger by Brunei Rs5,500; lady purse, tea set (18pieces) by UN office in Bangkok Rs4,200; saree Rs3,500; necktie Rs1,500 by PM Thailand; decoration piece Rs750; shield Rs500. President of Singapore gave 12 gifts including brooch, scenery, suit, shawal lady, two gowns, jewellery box, painting of lions etc: Rs18,000; cigar box by Bill Owens CEO Nortel Rs5,000; Qehwa set by China: Rs600; ladies purse by Prince and Queen Malaysia Rs2,500; hand wash basin, wall mirror by PM Turkey Rs8500; Bowl, wall mirror by FM Turkey Rs3,500; ceramic plate by mayor of Istanbul Rs4,500; hand wash basin, table cloth Ata Turk Museum Rs9,700; coffee set (12 pieces) from Turkey: Rs2,400.
Prime Minister Bahrain gave Rolex wrist watch worth Rs550,000; watch Corum with pen worth RS75,000; necklace worth Rs105,200, two wrist watch Cartier worth Rs120,000, pair of cufflinks, table clock from Commander Bahrain national guard: Rs38,000; replica of Bear Berlin Rs2,200; pair of flower vase Iran Rs1,600; one candle stand, one cigar box, one plate by Germany: Rs4,000; 3 neck ties SJ Dupont Rs9,000; one brief case by chief of staff UAE armed forces: Rs8,000; CD Player JVC from Japan: Rs7000; three neckties: Rs3,600; one pen set, decoration piece: Rs600; one jewellery box Rs 1800; hand fan, two sceneries Rs1,400, all from Japan Bank; One jewelry box large worth Rs6000, one wooden board and one canon digital camera by President SOJITZ Corporation: Rs31,000; jewellery box (leather) by US Pavilion Rs1,500; pen stand from Hong Kong Chamber Rs2,000; table set, table clok, pen, paper weight and decoration by Pak Trader Association: Rs8,000; bowl with cover from Canada High commissioner Rs2,500; wrist watch Eloga Swiss: Rs435,000; compass Cartier Rs20,000; suite case Rs6,000; dagger Rs14,500, 12 bore gun (repeater): Rs125,000; and dagger at Rs10,000. Flower vase: Rs22,000 and jewellery box at Rs2,500 by SAMBU Construction Company; two decoration pieces Sammi corporation: Rs7,000; crystal shield Rs1,800; crown (gold plated) Rs5000; golden bowl Rs500; mobile set from Samsung SGH-D 500 from Country manager Samsung Rs20,000; carpet from PM Turkey Rs20,000; carpet Iran Rs18,000; four coins Uzebkistan, Glass jar Secretary General UNO Rs1,500; fountain pen European commission: Rs17,000; coin China: Rs49,100; five pen stands by Singapore Airlines Rs5,000; century cooking vessel, one replica of dragon china Rs6,000; cigarette box president Sri Lanka: Rs1,500; lady suit president Indonesia Rs1,200 tea set 11pcs Rs6,200; two mobile sets (Motorolla) by chairman ORASCOM Rs28,000; one wrist watch Rolex No 118208 Rs928,000, one wrist watch Rolex No 179138 Rs885,000, one table clock Rs 40,000 by president UAE. one neck tie from US secretary of dfence Rs3,000, wall hanging from Iran: Rs1,800; one golf stick, four golf balls, one book golf course: Rs 15,000; one sliver plate by Ms George bush Rs3,000; one silver bowl Turkish ambassador Rs2,000; one table cloth by UK minister for works Rs1,000; One carpet by president of Afghanistan: Rs14,000; one dagger by King of Jordan, game board by Prince Hassan bin Talal Rs2,000; one table cloth joint chief of staff USA: Rs6,000; one soccer ball cufflinks by chief executive Gas, Caryle GP: Rs101,70; jewellery set and one dagger by president Yamen: Rs15,000; one hand bag by wife of British PM Rs300; one brooch and pair of ear rings made of gold and pearls Rs36,215; one brooch made of gold Rs25,800, one jewellery box Rs 5,000; brooch made of gold and pearls by president of Greek Olympic association Rs12,775, two packets of beauty items Rs25,000 and one necklace Rs2,345 by wife of PM of Hellenic republic at Saunio; One jewellery set (necklace, ear rings, finger rings and bracelets): Rs207,790 from unknown source; one lady wrist watch by PM State of Qatar: Rs360,000; one table cloth: Rs 18000, one leather bag Rs45,000, 6 neck ties Rs 18000, one wrist watch Piaget: Rs 950,000, all from Commander of Royal Armed forces Bahrain.
Under the rules, a president, prime minister or minister could retain a gift without paying anything if it fell in a specific price formula. But PM Aziz obviously ensured that 393 gifts fell in the free-of-cost bracket.
Mr Shaukat Aziz’s version: The News contacted Mr Shaukat Aziz in London and his spokesman in a telephonic conversation refused to discuss anything in detail and limited the official response to saying, “the former prime minister only availed the facility pertaining to gifts as was permissible by law and according to the then applicable rules.” And who are we the people to argue with law, right?
Source: Aziz says he kept diamonds, gold, carpets & watches under rules
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: Honourable prime ministers are supposed to leave behind legacies but what do you say about individuals who don’t even leave behind things that were never theirs to begin with, such as official gifts received while in office? The irony gets more profound when the gentleman happens to be declared billionaire and prone to jumping at every opportunity to harp on the mantra of ethics in dispensation of responsibilities of a public office.
Welcome to the world of former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, who proving a calculating banker to core took away not a dozen or two but a hearty gift hamper of 395 official gifts given by foreign dignitaries.
Technically speaking there is a provision for a prime minister to retain an official gift after paying a fair price for the same, but who gets to evaluate that fair price? The same men and women who serve at the pleasure of the chief executive of the country so we can well imagine the outcome. And this instance was no exception either. Array of the gifts was diverse, fascinating and if the deliberately low ridiculous pricing of the government bureaucracy is to be believed then apparently every world dignitary is a cheap skate because when you price a hand bag given by Tony Blair’s wife at Rs300 (under 2 pounds sterling) what else can one say. Records also show that he walked away with a whole golf kit (presented by CNN media) after getting it evaluated at just Rs1,000. You can’t even get a quality putter at thrice that amount, let alone an entire Golf Kit. Who are you kidding here Mr Aziz?
Mr Aziz’s luxurious abodes in London and the US must be boasting a treasure trove of world’s finest carpets at the lowest prices ever, surely because judging from the gift list, the citi-banker turned PM had a penchant for collecting rare carpets at rag prices. The former premier can now also boast a drawer full of the world’s most expensive watches including Cartier, Rolex and Piaget which he all ‘purchased’ for a song.
The gifts bagged by Mr Aziz included diamonds, gold, gold crowns, bracelets, necklace, pairs of gold coins, jewellery, golf kits, daggers, repeater guns, jewellery boxes, gold plated crowns, brooch and pair of ear rings made of gold and pearls, mobile phones, half a dozen wrist watches, etc., and to facilitate the prime minister of the day, their value was (criminally) understated to help him retain them at ridiculously low prices by the Cabinet Division. According to informed officials the real value was a minimum of Rs50 million plus.
The prices of some foreign branded goods are calculated so cheap and low that one wonders whether the foreign dignitaries were either joking with our prime minister or our officials were deliberately under valuing them for understandable reasons.
One source said, had these gifts been deposited in the Toshakhana of Cabinet division for auction, as it happens sometimes under the rules, the country might have got over Rs50million. But Mr Aziz took all these gifts with him to decorate his houses instead of helping the country generate some cash, the sources said. His wife Rukhsana Aziz also was one of the beneficiaries of this official ‘plunder sale’ in the name of these gifts given to the spouses by the visiting heads of the state or during their foreign trips.
The interesting part of this whole episode is that these bracelets and necklaces were being retained by PM Aziz while the twice elected prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was being dragged in the Swiss courts for taking just one necklace from a private firm in her capacity as the prime minister of Pakistan and several politicians including Asif Zardari and Yousuf Raza Gilani were being tried by the NAB in the name of accountability.
Shaukat Aziz also took four expensive daggers and one repeater gun along with him which were gifted by government of Oman in addition to valuable wrist watches worth over Rs1 million each. Four bottles of perfumes also from Oman were valued at only Rs2,500 each. Even a gift given by Chinese prime minister was valued at laughable price of Rs350. A necktie by Malaysian prime minister was valued at Rs400 and gifted to Mr Aziz to wear with his thousand dollar suits. One foreign made shirt was valued at only Rs1,000 given by one foreign prime minister and Mr Aziz retained it for free.
However, Mr Aziz did cough out a fortune of Rs1.6 million to the government to retain gold coins, necklaces, watches, jewellery, crowns, pearls, repeater guns etc. Who cares about the bitter fact that in reality these gifts were valued at over Rs50m. Like they say, what are a few millions between a country and its prime minister.
Aziz was probably the only prime minister of Pakistan who even took a gift valued at a paltry Rs150 to his house, free of cost of course. Even three expensive gifts given by Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan were valued again at a shocking low price of Rs1,700 and so forced our PM to keep them free of cost. Shaukat Aziz apparently made it part of his daily life during his days at the prime minister house to pocket all the gifts which were either given to him by the visiting foreign dignitaries or during his foreign trips by the host governments.
Saudi King was the most generous amongst the foreign dignitaries who gave gifts to Aziz. He gave one necklace worth Rs1 million, a bracelet worth Rs264,730, a pair of earrings worth Rs254,750 and finger ring worth Rs73,650. But, Mr Aziz paid only Rs243,600 to retain these gifts of the Saudi monarch.
Sultan of Brunei gave eight valuable gifts and again the evaluation made by his subordinates is laughable; wrist watch (Asprey No 663189- Rs350,000), necklace Rs155,000; coins, suiting cloths for six suits Rs6000; dagger Rs5,500.
Prime Minister Bahrain gave gifts of wrist watch Rolex Rs550,000; watch Corum with pen Rs75,000; necklace 105,200, two wrist watches by Cartier Rs120,000 which Mr Aziz also took home. Acting secretary general Ne Komeito from Japan also gave one necklace and pair of tops which was valued at only at Rs10,000 and was retained by Mr Aziz free of cost.
PM of UAE gave one wrist watch Rolex worth Rs1.3million which Aziz retained after paying only Rs201,000. Govt of UAE also gave him one wrist watch Roberger watch worth Rs350,000, another wrist watch Bertolucci Rs300,000 and one lap top.
A cursory review of these expensive gifts and their abysmally low determined value, show how the civil bureaucracy had been accommodating Aziz to retain the expensive foreign gifts either absolutely free of cost or for a pittance.
Following gifts were retained mostly free of cost or after paying token money by one of the richest prime ministers of Pakistan whose tax return showed that he owned property worth Rs7 billion.
The News is in possession of the complete list of 393 gifts given by surprisingly ‘poor foreign elite’ but owing to paucity of space just a few of most interesting gifts are being listed in this report to show how otherwise expensive gifts were grossly undervalued and whisked away free of cost and shamelessly by someone who had held the purse strings of the country for eight long years, first as finance minister and then as the prime minister.
Gifts: Iranian Carpet: Rs 10,000; jewellery box by PM Malaysia: Rs8,500 (with this paltry amount you can’t get a lowly pewter set of four tumblers mind you), dinner set gifted by president of Sri Lanka: Rs17,000, coffee (08) pieces set by Chinese minister valued at Rs1,500, paper weight, paper cutter, four books by Jordan prince Rs1,700, one ball point by Japan delegation Rs2,500, ball point cross by US secretary of state Rs2,000; Ceramic tray by Netherlands minister Rs1,000; souvenir duly framed by Iran Rs4,000, dagger by chairman Dubai Islamic bank Rs14,000; decoration piece by Malaysia Rs1,200; Ding food vessel by Chinese company Rs500; pen Mont Blanc by Ankara mayor Rs27,000; four bottle of perfumes by Oman Rs10,000; carpet by Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai Rs8,000; carpet by Custodian of mausoleum of Imam Raza Iran Rs30,000; two wall hanging from China Rs3200; Qehwa set by PM Thailand Rs4,000; carpet by President Azerbaijan Rs7,000; silver bowl by FM Thailand Rs1,800; Chess playing set by Finance minister Kyrgyz republic Rs5,000; Walkman Sony FM Japan Rs8,000; replica of Ghanta Ghar Faisalabad, wooden frame and crown in 21 kt gold Rs34,000; Ceramic plate from PM China Rs350; neck tie Malaysia Rs400; pair of cufflinks Rs12,000; pair of cufflinks (Mont Blanc) by Malaysia minister Rs15,000; wall hanging, capping, pillows by PM Malaysia Rs11,000; decoration piece for Rukhsana Aziz by HC Brunei Rs7,000; culture picture by Brunei sultan gave 8 gifts including wrist watch (Asprey No 663189- Rs350,000), necklace Rs155,000; coins, suiting cloths six Rs6,000; dagger by Brunei Rs5,500; lady purse, tea set (18pieces) by UN office in Bangkok Rs4,200; saree Rs3,500; necktie Rs1,500 by PM Thailand; decoration piece Rs750; shield Rs500. President of Singapore gave 12 gifts including brooch, scenery, suit, shawal lady, two gowns, jewellery box, painting of lions etc: Rs18,000; cigar box by Bill Owens CEO Nortel Rs5,000; Qehwa set by China: Rs600; ladies purse by Prince and Queen Malaysia Rs2,500; hand wash basin, wall mirror by PM Turkey Rs8500; Bowl, wall mirror by FM Turkey Rs3,500; ceramic plate by mayor of Istanbul Rs4,500; hand wash basin, table cloth Ata Turk Museum Rs9,700; coffee set (12 pieces) from Turkey: Rs2,400.
Prime Minister Bahrain gave Rolex wrist watch worth Rs550,000; watch Corum with pen worth RS75,000; necklace worth Rs105,200, two wrist watch Cartier worth Rs120,000, pair of cufflinks, table clock from Commander Bahrain national guard: Rs38,000; replica of Bear Berlin Rs2,200; pair of flower vase Iran Rs1,600; one candle stand, one cigar box, one plate by Germany: Rs4,000; 3 neck ties SJ Dupont Rs9,000; one brief case by chief of staff UAE armed forces: Rs8,000; CD Player JVC from Japan: Rs7000; three neckties: Rs3,600; one pen set, decoration piece: Rs600; one jewellery box Rs 1800; hand fan, two sceneries Rs1,400, all from Japan Bank; One jewelry box large worth Rs6000, one wooden board and one canon digital camera by President SOJITZ Corporation: Rs31,000; jewellery box (leather) by US Pavilion Rs1,500; pen stand from Hong Kong Chamber Rs2,000; table set, table clok, pen, paper weight and decoration by Pak Trader Association: Rs8,000; bowl with cover from Canada High commissioner Rs2,500; wrist watch Eloga Swiss: Rs435,000; compass Cartier Rs20,000; suite case Rs6,000; dagger Rs14,500, 12 bore gun (repeater): Rs125,000; and dagger at Rs10,000. Flower vase: Rs22,000 and jewellery box at Rs2,500 by SAMBU Construction Company; two decoration pieces Sammi corporation: Rs7,000; crystal shield Rs1,800; crown (gold plated) Rs5000; golden bowl Rs500; mobile set from Samsung SGH-D 500 from Country manager Samsung Rs20,000; carpet from PM Turkey Rs20,000; carpet Iran Rs18,000; four coins Uzebkistan, Glass jar Secretary General UNO Rs1,500; fountain pen European commission: Rs17,000; coin China: Rs49,100; five pen stands by Singapore Airlines Rs5,000; century cooking vessel, one replica of dragon china Rs6,000; cigarette box president Sri Lanka: Rs1,500; lady suit president Indonesia Rs1,200 tea set 11pcs Rs6,200; two mobile sets (Motorolla) by chairman ORASCOM Rs28,000; one wrist watch Rolex No 118208 Rs928,000, one wrist watch Rolex No 179138 Rs885,000, one table clock Rs 40,000 by president UAE. one neck tie from US secretary of dfence Rs3,000, wall hanging from Iran: Rs1,800; one golf stick, four golf balls, one book golf course: Rs 15,000; one sliver plate by Ms George bush Rs3,000; one silver bowl Turkish ambassador Rs2,000; one table cloth by UK minister for works Rs1,000; One carpet by president of Afghanistan: Rs14,000; one dagger by King of Jordan, game board by Prince Hassan bin Talal Rs2,000; one table cloth joint chief of staff USA: Rs6,000; one soccer ball cufflinks by chief executive Gas, Caryle GP: Rs101,70; jewellery set and one dagger by president Yamen: Rs15,000; one hand bag by wife of British PM Rs300; one brooch and pair of ear rings made of gold and pearls Rs36,215; one brooch made of gold Rs25,800, one jewellery box Rs 5,000; brooch made of gold and pearls by president of Greek Olympic association Rs12,775, two packets of beauty items Rs25,000 and one necklace Rs2,345 by wife of PM of Hellenic republic at Saunio; One jewellery set (necklace, ear rings, finger rings and bracelets): Rs207,790 from unknown source; one lady wrist watch by PM State of Qatar: Rs360,000; one table cloth: Rs 18000, one leather bag Rs45,000, 6 neck ties Rs 18000, one wrist watch Piaget: Rs 950,000, all from Commander of Royal Armed forces Bahrain.
Under the rules, a president, prime minister or minister could retain a gift without paying anything if it fell in a specific price formula. But PM Aziz obviously ensured that 393 gifts fell in the free-of-cost bracket.
Mr Shaukat Aziz’s version: The News contacted Mr Shaukat Aziz in London and his spokesman in a telephonic conversation refused to discuss anything in detail and limited the official response to saying, “the former prime minister only availed the facility pertaining to gifts as was permissible by law and according to the then applicable rules.” And who are we the people to argue with law, right?
Source: Aziz says he kept diamonds, gold, carpets & watches under rules
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