The Directorate General of Customs Post Clearance Audit (PCA) has uncovered large-scale under-invoicing and money laundering in the clearance of luxury vehicles through the faceless system.
A shocking 127-page audit report has revealed what is being described as the largest trade-based money laundering scandal in Pakistan's history involving the import of luxury vehicles. According to the report, importers systematically undervalued the vehicles to evade billions of rupees in taxes.
One of the most startling cases in the report involved a 2023 model Toyota Land Cruiser, which had a market value of over Rs10 million, but was cleared through customs at an absurdly low declared value of only Rs17,635, allegedly with the collusion of customs officers.
The audit covered the period from December 2024 to March 2025 and reviewed post-clearance data of 1,335 imported vehicles. It found significant discrepancies between the declared and assessed values of the vehicles, with differences exceeding Rs1 million per vehicle in many cases. Importers declared the total import value of these vehicles as Rs670 million, while the actual value was found to exceed Rs7.25 billion.
Due to this manipulation, importers paid only Rs1.29 billion in duties and taxes, while evading an estimated Rs18.78 billion in customs duties and taxes. According to the PCA report, not a single importer was able to provide proof that the payments for these vehicles were made through legal channels from abroad. This raised strong suspicions that payments were made through illegal hawala and hundi networks.
The report further revealed that 99.8 per cent of all Land Cruiser vehicles imported during the audit period were cleared using under-invoicing to evade taxes and duties. It warned that such organized under-invoicing not only results in massive tax evasion but also poses serious threats to Pakistan's financial system.
These revelations come at a critical time, as Pakistan continues efforts to meet the compliance standards of international financial institutions, particularly the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The audit report has been forwarded to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), State Bank of Pakistan, and the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) for joint investigation and legal action against the network involved in this financial fraud.
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