Customs intelligence unearths Rs3.5b tax fraud

KARACHI: Customs intelligence has unearthed the tax fraud worth Rs3.5 billion allegedly committed by a private company, ARY News reported on Friday.

The Customs intelligence detected a Rs3.5 tax fraud in a company namely HSJI that cleared steel bars by deceiving Customs Collector Hyderabad without paying the taxes and duties.

The Customs spokesperson said that the company would have faced fines, duties and taxes worth Rs3.5 billion. A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged by Customs intelligence, however, no recovery has been made from the company so far.

It emerged that the fraud money was used in a construction project. The Customs spokesperson said that the accused was associated with the HSJI namely company. The construction company used steel products in a Karachi-based project.

The FIR was lodged on October 27 on a tip-off about money laundering. The nominated persons include Muhammad Hanif Jeewani, Ahmed Hanif Jeewani and others.

Last month, the Customs intelligence had unearthed a tax evasion scandal of Rs140 million through under-invoicing and fake documents in Karachi Airport’s Air Freight Unit (AFU).

The 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.

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.