Pakistan Customs have seized the records of the Islamabad Dry Port’s import section and restarted an investigation into a case of tariff evasion to the tune of Rs170 million.
The scam involves over 100 containers of cloth that were cleared by import section officials at the dry port at less-than-half of the usual rate.
A custom’s official told The Express Tribune that importers Haji Hasan and Muhammad Ali of Universal Gateway Company imported around 110 containers of cloth worth hundreds of millions of rupees and were supposed to pay $5.7 per kilogramme.
“But they paid only $2.7 per kilogramme in connivance with clearing agent Chaudhry Ihsan of New Ihsan Enterprises, incurring a total loss of Rs170 million to the national exchequer,” said the official, who requested anonymity.
Pakistan Customs Director General Nasrullah Virk first ordered the investigation when the scam came to the fore some two months ago.
A Customs Intelligence team raided the import section and registered a case against the Ihsanullah, Hassan and Ali, apart from confiscating the record. The nominated persons were arrested and were being interrogated when they got bail from a Rawalpindi court. Earlier, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had rejected their bail plea.
The investigators claim to have identified the involvement of dry port and customs officials and have included them in the investigation.
The official claimed that customs officers who were allegedly involved in the scam were hampering the investigation. The alleged involvement of senior officers could not, however, be independently verified. Customs Additional Deputy Director Waheed Marwat said the investigation was under way, but he could not comment further as the case is underway.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2014.
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