Foreign currency worth Rs820 million stolen by customs officials

LAHORE: Foreign currency worth Rs820 million has been reportedly embezzled by the corrupt customs officers as per the investigations carried out at the directives of the Lahore Customs Collector.

The First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against the involved customs’ staff, at the behest of the Customs Collector, in the Old Anarkali Police Station (PS).

Lahore Customs Preventive Collector Abdur Rauf has started an audit of all the money laundering cases as well as the recovered amount.

As per details, a new customs collectorate has been established after which it was decided that the old record and money laundering case files stored in the Custom House’s valuable warehouse would be handed over to the Allama Iqbal Airport Collectorate. Foreign and local currency along with gold would be stored in the State Bank’s mint.

Customs serving as ‘backbone of economy’: official

An investigation by the high-level officers’ committee had found that the money recovered during several foiled attempts of money laundering by passengers at the Allama Iqbal Airport was absent from the foreign and local currency lockers.

The First Information Report (FIR) details that 380,000 dollars, 2,373,000 dirhams, 115,000 euros, 200,000 Saudi riyals, 202,000 Omani riyals, 57,000 Chinese yuan, 37,000 pounds and 40,000 Japanese yen along with a substantial amount of recovered Pakistani currency was stored in the government warehouse.

The report further states that former warehouse in-charge, superintendent custom and the current warehouse in-charge failed to justify themselves.

Plaintiff Custom Superintendent Mehmood Saeed alleges that these officers were involved in the heist, while Inspector Muzzaffar Hussain, Sepoy Muhammad Naeem and Sepoy Faqeer Hussain are suspects in the case.

Pakistan Customs to launch swift cargo clearance system

Lahore Custom Preventive Collector told The Express Tribune that the embezzlement was uncovered after investigations were conducted over suspicion.

“We will not forgive anyone involved in this heist,” he asserted.

He also ordered a comprehensive audit of all the currency and gold stored in the warehouse along with investigating the exact time when the money disappeared from the storage and the officers who were in charge of the warehouse at the time.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2019.