ISLAMABAD: The Directorate of Customs Intelligence in Karachi has revealed a scheme involving artificial leather valued at Rs220 million.
According to media reports, Director General Faiz Ahmed Chadhar of the Directorate of Customs Intelligence, Karachi, received credible intelligence indicating the involvement of Clearing Agency M/s Ayyaz Enterprises in importing artificial leather without paying required duties and taxes. They utilised fictitious companies such as M/s Awami Textile, M/s Fraz Enterprises, and M/s Pak Asia, which purportedly existed only on paper. The entities falsely claimed to manufacture goods for export but were actually selling the imported leather domestically.
As per the reports, an investigation conducted by the Directorate uncovered that M/s Awami Textile, M/s Fraz Enterprises, and M/s Pak Asia, supposedly located in various parts of the country, were non-existent entities used to evade substantial duties and taxes under the Export Facilitation Scheme introduced by the Government of Pakistan.
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M/s Ayyaz Enterprises imported artificial leather valued at Rs220 million under the names of these fictitious companies, evading duties and taxes totaling Rs110 million, and subsequently selling the goods on the local market.
In a significant development, a shipment of artificial leather worth Rs16 million, with applicable duties and taxes of Rs8.6 million, imported by M/s Ayyaz Enterprises under the guise of M/s Awami Textile, has been seized at KICT West Wharf, Karachi port. The Directorate of Customs Intelligence, Karachi has filed a First Information Report (FIR) against the clearing agent and the fake companies involved in the scam, and further investigations are under way.
The Directorate of Customs Intelligence, Karachi, believes that uncovering and acting promptly on such misuse of the Export Facilitation scheme will deter unscrupulous individuals from exploiting it in the future.
