Karachi Customs uncovers Rs3.2 billion imports through alleged fake firms

Customs officials at Karachi Airport have detected Rs3.2 billion in imports allegedly routed through two paper firms acting as cover for undisclosed importers, according to Business Recorder, as carried by Profit. Authorities want a Joint Investigation Team to examine suspected trade-based money laundering. The probe began with a crackdown on routers brought in without the required Pakistan Telecommunication Authority certificate.

Customs flagged 10 declarations covering goods that included 71,815 routers cleared without the required certificate, in breach of a 2021 order and import policy. Adjudication led to the seizure of the consignments, and the firms' appeals to the Federal Tax Ombudsman were rejected. Investigators later concluded the firms were operated through nominees, and one declared address was a rice and flour shop.

The firms' trading moved in parallel, with their WeBOC user IDs accessed from 2,983 and 2,732 unique IP addresses, 1,048 shared by both. Their combined declared capital was Rs2.2 million when imports began, while the highest later figure was Rs77.7 million, not enough to cover even one month of imports. Customs also raised declared import values by Rs1.3 billion, while the firms reported roughly Rs2.9 billion in local sales yet paid almost no sales tax. The Collectorate has proposed disabling both WeBOC accounts and referring the case to the RTO-II office in Karachi for tax action.