KARACHI: FIA has sought last ten year’s record of Custom Intelligence for the investigation against the corrupt officers and officials of Custom Intelligence & Investigation.
According to the obtained information one more example of Customs Intelligence officers has surfaced when Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has initiated investigation against the corrupt officers of Custom Intelligence & Investigation Directorate (I&I) who sold 1763 confiscated mobiles to CSD Store and also have been involved in the embezzlement and misappropriation of millions of rupees.
Customs Today has received the enquiry letter in which it has been revealed that Assistant Director FIA Lahore Mohammad Amanullah Khan has sought the relevant record from Director Customs Intelligence and Investigation Allama Iqbal Town Lahore.
He wrote the letter to Director Custom Intelligence on 16th January 2018, in which he requested for deputing a focal person not bellow to BPS 17 for the coordination in aforesaid investigation.
According to the letter FIA has started investigation against the customs officers and officials of Custom Intelligence and Investigation into the allegations of corruption, embezzlement and misappropriation of millions of rupees.
In the said letter FIA official sought the record pertaining to 1763 confiscated mobiles which were sold to CSD along with other record of similar transactions for the previous 10 years.
The official sources told that the FBR had decided to do away with pending inquiries in bulk few years back when files against appraisers and other small staff were closed down forever and now lower staff’s alleged corruption has become major phenomena creating problems for small and medium taxpayers,” said the official and added that the FBR would have to demonstrate deterrence to curb corrupt practices.
Director General Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Basheer Memon had recently visited the FBR’s headquarters and held meeting with Chairman FBR Tariq Pasha.
It is pertinent to mention that importers of Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad and Islamabad have been protesting to sought Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Tariq Pasha’s attention towards the unchecked gross misconduct and misuse of authority by some of the officers of Directorate General of intelligence, FBR across the country since such has been constantly indulged in malpractice in the garb of official capacity.
Importers revealed that some notorious officers are involved in such malpractice and misconduct by adopting the modus operandi that they while patrolling or setting out the nakas/pickets on highways particularly on the route from Karachi to Punjab, used to stop the lawfully imported goods cleared from port with mala-fide intention and ulterior motives on the pretext of routine checking and after cursory checking, bribe is demanded from importer by extending threat that if he does not fulfill their illegal demands, goods would be detained and seized by charging/framing that importer cleared the goods from wrong PCT head or at wrong values despite knowingly that Directorates of Intelligence have no authority in this regard.
Importers further said that the aforesaid malpractice has become the routine of such notorious officers resulting in high corruption in our society and importers, under their threat, prefer to give bribe rather than facing their wrath and one who refuses to fulfill their illegal demands, his goods are detained on the road under the pretext of re-examination, valuation assessments are made, case of mis-declaration is made out despite the fact that all these actions of such officers are entirely illegal as no powers u/s 25 and u/s 32 of Customs ACT, 1969 (mis-declaration) has been conferred upon Customs Intelligence as is evident from their exercising SRO486(I)2007 dated:09.06.2017 (Annex-A) wherein exercising powers has been conferred to Directorate of Intelligence and bare perusal of which reveals that section 25 and section 32 have not been inserted in above referred SRO.
