KARACHI: The Special Court of Customs Taxation and Anti-Smuggling has granted bail to two suspects in a case pertaining to the gold smuggling worth Rs 35 billion.
Judge Syed Faiz Rasool Rashdi granted bail to Muhammad Zubair and Wajahat Minhas against surety bonds of Rs 1 million each.
The suspects, through their counsel Jamil Ahmed moved the applications, seeking their release on bail.
According to the prosecution, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Corporate Crime Circle had registered an FIR under Section 156(1) (8), 32/32-A punishable under Section 156(1) (14) of Customs Act 1969.
An inquiry conducted by FIA established that accused Muhammad Shakeel, the deputy director of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), Karachi, registered the firms M/S Rayyan Collection, M/S Atta Casting, M/S Ather Jewellers and M/S Al Huda Bangles as exporters under Section 3 of the SRO 266(1)2001 dated May 7, 2001, to export gold, silver and platinum jewellery and precious stones without fulfilling legal requirements.
The alleged gold traders exported 23 karat gold jewellery worth Rs 35 billion to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the period between 2011 and 2012 on fake E-forms, as no foreign exchange proceeds returned to the country as an outcome of the gold export.
Muhammad Shakeel, Abdul Qadir, Akmal Aziz and other accused have already been released on bail.
