Customs Recommends JIT Over Suspected Billions in Trade-Based Money Laundering; Two Private Companies Declared Fake Entities
KARACHI: After the discovery of a big Rs1.3 billion under invoicing scam linked to two private companies that were declared as alleged fake and paper entities by Pakistan Customs, the agency has suggested the establishment of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) involving the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and anti money laundering agencies.
Concrete proof of fiscal fraud, misdeclaration and violation of intellectual property rights has come out against the accused firms involved in the imports worth Rs2.32 billion, official investigation documents revealed.
The following are some key points from the Customs Investigation and Findings.
Investigations found that 71,815 internet routers were being imported by the front companies without the type approval of PTA, resulting in the seizure of 10 goods declarations by Customs authorities.
Frontmen and Secret Operators: The report revealed that the user IDs of the entities, known as WeBOC (Web-Based One Customs), were used by multiple secret operators and that frontmen were used to operate the entities.
A joint network of 108 local buyers and 12 foreign suppliers was identified during the customs inspection, both in the two companies. As a result, the authorities have advised them to suspend or cancel their user ID at WeBOC and initiate strong measures to recover sales tax and income tax from them.