KARACHI: The Model Customs Collectorate of Appraisement East has lodged First Information Report (FIR) against accused persons namely Majid Ali, owner of M/s Globel Textile, directors of M/s Maritime Agencies (Private) Limited & others who deliberately submitting misleading information regarding false bills of shipment and evaded the duty and taxes to the tune of Rs10,321,544/- complainant by Malik Muhammad Hashim, Preventive Officer, Model Customs Collectorate Appraisement East, Customs House, Karachi.
According to FIR, Majid Ali, the owner of M/s Global Textile (NTN 4264626), located at 22/B, Block-B, Sher Shah, Karachi has imported seven different consignments of various types of cotton fabric and cotton blended fabric in huge quantity, therefore, an information in this regard was shared by the Customs Appraisement West Karachi, the Customs Appraisement East learnt that M/s Maritime Agencies (Private) Limited, Karachi, has committed fraud by issuing fake bills of landing in place of the original ones.
During investigation it was observed that freight forwarders/co-loader/shipping agent M/s Maritime Agencies (Private) Limited, Karachi, in connivance with the accused importer, have been involved in the clearance of mentioned goods by wrongfully declaring the vital information with regard to the shipper’s name, port of loading, country of origin, he added.
The preventive officer Appraisement East further mentioned that goods were actually shipped from Korea but the M/s Maritime Agencies (Private) Limited, Karachi, while filing the Import General Manifest (IGM) in WeBOC fraudulently manipulated the shipper’s name as ‘Janar Textiles SDN BHD’ Malaysia and port of loading as Penang (Georget), Malaysia and during the course of scrutiny it transpired that the aforesaid consignments were shipped from Korea through M/s Korea Marine Transport Co. Ltd and M/s Haniin Shipping’ Lines (shipping lines) whose master shipping agent was M/s United Marine Agencies (Private) Limited, Karachi. However, they authorised M/s Maritime Agencies (Private) Limited who filed the IGM with incorrect information.”
Malik Hashim mentioned that M/s Maritime Agencies (Private) limited, Karachi in connivance of with importer electronically fed incorrect/false information with ulterior motives in the Customs Computerized System at the time of filing IGM and issued manipulated ‘Bill of Lading’ showing wrong shipper’s name and country of origin as Malaysia instead of actual particulars/information mentioned in the `Master Bill of Lading by M/s Korea Marine Transport Co. Ltd ‘Korea’.
He pointed out that it has been observed that the subjected goods were wrongly declared to avail inadmissible concession of Pak-Malaysia FTA regime under SRO 1261(I)/2007 to the extent of Rs10,321,544/-, therefore, case was registered under Section 19, 32 (I), 32 (II), 32-A, 79 of the Customs Act 1969 punishable under clause 10 (A), 14, 14-A and 46 of Section 156 (I) of the Customs Act 1969 read with Import (Control) Act 1950.
