FBR finds ‘benami’ account with transactions worth Rs370m

Authorities suspect the account was being operated for the sole purpose of laundering money

KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Karachi claimed to have discovered another 'benami' account, through which transactions worth a whopping Rs370 million had been made in three years.

According to the FBR, Rs20 million were deposited on average in the account being run under the name of Muhammad Ibrahim, a resident of Nusrat Bhutto Colony in Karachi.

On Thursday, the FBR presented its initial report to the Customs Court, which in turn issued bailable arrest warrants for the accused. The accused person would be able to secure bail against a surety of Rs1 million.

The investigation officer told the court that the Intelligence and Investigation wing of the Inland Revenue Service has registered the case and started investigating the matter to ascertain who had been depositing the large sums into the account.

The IO said that Ibrahim had opened the account in 2015. Subsequently, the funds have been credited to his account at a rate of almost Rs20 million every month between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2018. More than Rs369.4 million have been transferred during the three years.

The IO said that they had raided the address registered with the authorities to detain Ibrahim for questioning but he wasn't present there. Instead, another person, who identified himself as Bashir Ahmed Qureshi was present at the address.

The FBR suspects that the account had been opened and was being operated for the sole purpose of laundering money.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2019.