- Reuters
- 33 Minutes ago
Pakistan Customs exposes mega Rs3.5 billion money laundering scandal
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- Web Desk
- Oct 30, 2023
WEB DESK: In a significant revelation, Pakistan Customs officials have exposed a staggering case of ‘money laundering’ amounting to Rs3.5 billion in Sindh’s Hyderabad district.
The investigation, carried out on Monday, unveiled a complex web of financial deception.
According to official documents, the HSJI company based in Hyderabad managed to evade taxes worth Rs70 million.
This dubious enterprise imported a massive quantity of 14,392 metric tonnes of raw steel bars, exploiting a customs facility loophole to avoid tax payments.
Shockingly, the company was allowed to import raw materials for steel bars and defer tax payments until the items were transformed into finished products.
Further scrutiny revealed another alarming case. The Steel-Re-rolling Mills, despite selling steel bars to a construction company, failed to pay taxes totaling Rs700 million. This blatant disregard for financial obligations raised serious concerns among customs authorities.
Pakistan Customs officials assert that a substantial tax amount of Rs700 million was evaded in this instance alone.
The overall money laundering scheme, which involved illicit profits, tax evasion, and the manipulation of the original value of the steel bars, reached a staggering total of Rs3.5 billion.
This revelation comes on the heels of a recent expose. Last month, Customs intelligence officials discovered a tax evasion scandal amounting to Rs140 million.
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This nefarious activity was conducted through under-invoicing and the use of fake documents at Karachi Airport’s Air Freight Unit (AFU).
According to ARY News, the same modus operandi was identified at Jinnah International Airport Karachi’s AFU, where a private company allegedly engaged in corruption worth Rs140 million through under-invoicing and counterfeit documentation.
The uncovering of these financial irregularities underscores the pressing need for stringent oversight and measures to combat money laundering and tax evasion in the country.
Authorities have vowed to investigate these cases thoroughly, ensuring that those involved face the full force of the law.