KARACHI: Collectorate of Customs Appraisement West has detected scam during the clearance process of old & used vehicles on submission of fake Proceed Realisation Certificate (PRC)/Encashment certificates.
In this regard, Chief Collector of Customs Appraisement (South) Wajid Ali and Collector of Customs Appraisement (West) Tahir Qureshi instructed the R&D branch of this Collectorate to investigate the scam in detail and arrest the culprits involved in it.
The staff of R&D under the able leadership of learned Collector (West), Additional Collector (R&D) Yasir Kalwar and Deputy Collector (RnD) Raza Naqvi is working day and night to investigate the scam.
The team comprising Principal Appraiser Taufiq Shaikh, Appraising Officers Ghani Soomro, Hafiz Asad Shabbir and Rahid Ali have been successful in arresting nine accused persons including passport providers, fake PRCs providers and bank staff. More banks’ employees are likely to be arrested. Involvement of banks’ management is also being investigated.
So far three FIRs have been lodged in Special Customs Court, Karachi. All the accused persons are on remand till 14 th of December, 2021. During investigation, active role of certain banks and their staff have been ascertained.
A major breakthrough achieved when a representative of a private bank who has been arrested by staff of R&D admitted that he issued fake PRCs for financial gains.
Moreover, a network of notorious fake PRCs and passport providers has also been unearthed. 29 fake PRCs have been identified so far. In addition to it, more suspicious/dubious PRCs are being identified and will be sent to head offices of concerned banks for verification. Strict action will be taken against all those involved in this scam.
