FIA pursuing case against 'buyer' of state gifts.

LAHORE -- The Federal InvestiAgAation Agency has not dropped a criminal case against Umar Farooq Zahoor, who is wanted by Norway, Switzerland, Turkiye and Pakistan since 2009-10 in various financial and other crimes, official sources said on Wednesday.

Zahoor's name hit headlines just a day ago when he claimed in an interview to have bought from the former PTI government an expensive Graff wristwatch, which was gifted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman to then PM Imran Khan, for over $2m.

Mr Khan, however, denied the allegation and vowed to sue the alleged buyer and a Pakistani media group in courts of the UK and the UAE for a 'fabricated' story.

While the FIA had been actively pursuing a case against Zahoor in the PTI government, the agency reportedly lost interest in it after the PML-N-led coalition took over in April due to the alleged connections of the fugitive with those in power. A source in FIA Islamabad, however, told Dawn, 'The case against fugitive Zahoor is not closed. We are pursuing it.'

In January, the FIA director general formed a four-member JIT to take up with the UAE administration Zahoor's repatriation for his involvement in transnational financial crimes. Two former FIA chiefs - Bashir Memon and Saud Mirza - were also questioned by the agency for allegedly 'facilitating' him.

The FIA in collaboration with the Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB) director, the joint interior secretary and the Middle East director at the Foreign Ministry were...