Customs intelligence unearths Rs140m tax evasion scandal

KARACHI: Customs intelligence has unearthed a tax evasion scandal of Rs140 million through under-invoicing and fake documents in Karachi Airport’s Air Freight Unit (AFU), ARY News reported on Wednesday.

A new scandal of under-invoicing and fake documents for tax evasion has been unearthed in Jinnah International Airport Karachi’s AFU.

According to the Customs Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation, corruption worth Rs140 million was allegedly committed in a consignment of a private company through under-invoicing and fake documentation.

Customs officials told the media that a private company was involved in tax evasion by submitting fake receipts of imported networking equipment. The tax evasion was caught by the Customs intelligence directorate during an inspection.

Following the revelations, the Customs officers also blocked two GDs of items imported by the private company for further inspection. It was learnt that there was neither any receipt nor packing list of the imported consignment, whereas, the importers significantly reduced the value of the imported items.

It emerged that two employees of the private firm, Ghulam Sabir Ghouri and Zeeshan Ahmed, possessed the original receipts but they provided fake receipts.

The Customs intelligence found out that the original invoice showed the consignment’s value $2,445 but the officials were told the consignment’s worth $125. The value of a single device in a consignment was mentioned $268 despite it being valued $26,850 according to the original invoice.

The price of another device was shown as $199 instead of its actual value which is $10,000. The Customs officials confiscated the consignment under the Customs Act over the alleged violation of the import policy order and the submission of fake documents.

According to the Customs, the declared value of the equipment was Rs14.4 million instead of its actual value, Rs437.1 million. The private was also involved in under-invoicing in its previous consignments and hid an overall Rs140 million tax.

A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged over the tax evasion in which several persons were nominated including Shamim Akhtar Alam, Muhammad Saeed Alam and other business partners.

Yesterday, Pakistan Customs recovered non-duty paid goods from Bolton Market – Karachi.

According to details, non-duty-paid goods were recovered during raid at Bolton Market’s Chantii Gali. The Pakistan Customs officials were accompanied by Sindh Rangers and police troops.

The customs team on the tip of, searched the Chantii Gali and recovered non-paid customs. During the raid, shopkeepers recorded their protest.

Earlier, Pakistan Customs impounded 67 non-duty paid vehicles in an action against the smugglers in Quetta.

In line with the vision of the Prime Minister to curb smuggling, Pakistan Customs seized 67 non-customs paid vehicles, sugar and fertilizer worth Rs336 million approximately.