KARACHI: A sugar mills has moved Appellate Tribunal against the order of Customs Collector Adjudication in a sugar export scam.
M/s Chaudhry Sugar Mills has appealed Appellate Tribunal challenging Adjudication’s order in which the sugar mills was charged for making fake export goods declaration (GDs) and making paper export of 5,420 metric tonne of sugar to Afghanistan, which was later recovered from a warehouse in Peshawar.
FIR was lodged against M/s Chaudhry Sugar Mills for their involvement in the sugar export subsidy scam. They evaded duty/taxes and fraudulently availed huge amount of export subsidy in respect of fake exports of sugar to Afghanistan.
The Custom Station Torkham Assistant Collector on receipt of information about export subsidy fraud case, constituted an audit team. The audit team retrieved data from PRAL pertaining to the export of Sugar for cross verification of the exports with manual record maintained by the Customs staff at Torkham.
The team upon scrutiny found that GDs were available in the manual record but found tampered with in the system. It was noted in the FIR that the exporters got the data tampered in PRAL system with the connivance of PRAL staff.
The fraud aimed at availing huge amount of subsidy of inland freight of Rs2.0 per Kilogram and cash subsidy on export of Sugar at the rate of Rs8.0 per kilogram allowed on export of Sugar as per decision by Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC), the FIR said. However, none from the M/s Chaudhry Sugar Mills joined the investigations.
Subsequently, Customs Adjudication ordered confiscation of sugar recovered from the warehouse and its sale proceed if already auctioned. Adjudication ordered recovery of 15 percent advance payment if not already forfeited received on account of their respective share in sugar not actually and factually exported to Afghanistan.
Customs Adjudication ordered the concerned authority to refund the amount of FED if paid on account of sugar neither actually exported to Afghanistan nor sold in the local market.
Adjudication ordered Chaudhry Sugar Mills to pay if not already paid EDS at 0.25 percent and WHT at 1.0 percent of the export proceeds received on account of sugar recovered from the warehouse.
M/s Chaudhry Sugar Mills has filed the appeal before the Appellate Tribunal challenging Adjudication order to the extent of confiscation of sugar recovered from warehouse and recovery of EDS, WHT of export proceeds received from Afghanistan.
Sources said M/s Chaudry Sugar Mill was twisting the facts to cover up their wrongdoings. Sources said at the time of alleged fraud, sugar prices were on higher side in Pakistan and the accused planned to multiply their profits by claiming export subsidy, evade FED and selling sugar in local market at higher rates. The Customs authorities have already auctioned the confiscated sugar.
