Massive tax evasion scam unearthed at Karachi Airport

Karachi: Karachi Airport Customs Air Freight Unit has exposed a massive tax evasion scam worth Rs13 crores.

The fraud was unveiled through an elaborate scheme involving under-invoicing and the submission of counterfeit invoices by a private company.

Customs Intelligence Director, Habib Ahmed, confirmed that the tax evasion operation utilized under-invoicing and fraudulent documents within the consignment ordered by the private company.

The firm now stands accused of engaging in extensive tax evasion practices.

Customs authorities initiated an investigation into the import of "networking equipment" by this private company.

Subsequently, the imported equipment has been seized, and both General Declarations (GDs) linked to the consignments have been blocked.

Alarmingly, these imported consignments lacked any legitimate receipts or packing lists.

The importer significantly misrepresented the value of the imported goods, with key players in the scam, Ghulam Saber Ghori and Zeeshan Ahmed, providing fake receipts to Customs officials.

The actual value of the consignments, as per original invoices in US dollars, amounted to $2,445, but the company reported a substantially lower value of $125.

In one shipment, the declared value was $268, whereas the true invoice indicated a value of $26,850.

Similarly, another device was reported as worth $199, while its actual value stood at $10,000.

The seized goods have been confiscated under the Customs Act, as they were accompanied by falsified documents and violated the import policy order.

While the declared value of the goods amounted to Rs1 crore 44 lakhs, Customs officials revealed that the actual value of the exported goods exceeded a staggering Rs437 crores 71 lakhs.

Director of Customs Intelligence, Habib Ahmed, disclosed that the same company had previously ordered similar goods through under-invoicing, attempting to evade a total of Rs14 crores in taxes.

The FIR filed in response to this scam names six individuals, including Shamim Akhtar Alam and Mohammad Saeed Alam, as the alleged perpetrators.