IO submits challan in luxury car case

KARACHI:

The investigating officer (IO) submitted an interim challan in the customs court in the case of the recovery of a luxury car from Karachi which was stolen from the UK.

It was said in the challan that  two  accused  Naveed  Yamin and Muhammad Sohail have been arrested in the  case. The  arrested  persons are accused of theft of Rs300 million on account of tax duty. The accused have violated  customs laws  and  diplomatic immunity.

The challan further stated that the vehicle has been exported for the purpose of tax duty evasion under the guise of  diplomatic  exemption.  

The accused are involved in a syndicate diplomatic concessions  and  zero  duty tax  imports.  A  citizen  named  Shafi bought the vehicle for Rs37.5  million, which  is  a portion of the original price.

The Sindh Excise and Taxation Department had  registered  the  vehicle in  the name  of  the  then  Ambassador  of  Bulgaria,  Alexander  Borisov.  An  in-
vestigation  into  the  role  of  excise  officials  in  registering vehicles without verifying documents is underway. 

The vehicle was imported  in  the  name  of  the  Ambassador of Bulgaria on November  11,  2019  on  the basis of an exemption certificate. The former ambassador of Bulgaria came to Pakistan in  September  2019  and  re-turned in September 2020.

The  Bulgarian  embassy  had recommended that the vehicle  be  confiscated lest it would be misused, it was also  said  to  de-register  the  vehicle as it was not in the possession of the embassy. Yameen  sold  the  vehicle  to  a  citizen  named Shafi  through  a  broker  Naveed  Balwani.

There are suspicions regarding the association of the accused Yameen with  the employees  of  the  Bulgarian  embassy  all  are  equally involved in this crime.