ISLAMABAD: Violation of government laws is a serious crime and the present government should take serious action against Maersk Line and its subsidiary in Pakistan Maersk Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd due to violation of SRO 1220(I)/ 2015 and for harassing and blackmailing importers to get additional demurrage and detention charges.
This was stated by ex-Vice President of Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FPCCI) and Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce and Industries (IWCCI), Naima Ansari while exclusively talking to Customs Today.
Naima Ansari further said that government must take notice while cancelling the license of Pakistan Maersk Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd as it is committing a crime by violating SRO 1220(I)/ 2015. She added that importers’ harassment promotes bribery culture, discourages them and curtails import. It is a serious matter so the government must not ignore it and resolve the issue timely.
Former vice-president of FPCCI and IIWCCI also said that it is a dire need to stop these fraudsters from blackmailing genuine importers by demanding ‘illegal’ additional charges. Maersk Line and its subsidiary in Pakistan Maersk Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd is not only discouraging genuine importers but encouraging fake and illegal importers, she added.
Naima Ansari also expressed that shipping companies cannot charge any demurrage and detention where specifically it is not agreed and also specifically not mentioned on bill of lading and if Maersk Line and its subsidiary Maersk Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd is violating this law, the government should take legal action as prescribed under rules 603(q), 603(r), 604(p), 604(q) & 607(e), others under SRO 1220/2015 which includes penalty and also cancellation of license. Today importers are facing various problems and the government needs to facilitate them and resolve all their issues, she added.
It is important to mention here that Maersk Line and its subsidiary M/s Maersk Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd are allegedly harassing and blackmailing importers and violating of SRO 1220(I)/ 2015.
In a move to cancel the licenses of Maersk Line and its subsidiary in Pakistan Maersk Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd, importers have written a letter to Chief Collector Enforcement and Collector Customs Preventive to take necessary legal action against Maersk Line and its subsidiary Maersk Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd for violating SRO 1220 (I)/2015.
Meanwhile, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) received a complaint seeking probe to ascertain role of employees of Maersk Line in country’s biggest shipping scandal involving 610 billion rupees.
Importers lodged application against Maersk Line and its subsidiary in Pakistan Maersk Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd for conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust under PPC 407, 409, 420, 427, 506 and others so that these fraudsters are stopped to blackmail genuine importers by demanding ‘illegal’ additional charges.
The complaint received by the NAB and the FIA demanded legal action for recoveries of amounts looted and recovering losses of Rs. 610 billion to the national exchequer per year while also stopping such further losses from the accused persons of Maersk Line and M/s Maersk Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd including Søren Skou, Claus V. Hemmingsen, Søren Toft, Vincent Clercp, Morten H. Engelstoft, others of Maersk Line and Arslan Khan, Hazanfar Khan, Raheel Salim, Maqsood Ul Hasan Khan, Fuad Khan, Hasan Faraz, Shakeel Masih, Omer Khan, Ali Jawad Alvi, Zafar Iqbal, Ayesha Chowdhry, Zahid Hussain, Salman Ahmad, Aamir Ali, Umais Aziz Khan, Mohammed Naeem, Farheen Mahmud, Mubasshar Iqbal, Affaq Syed, Syed Mohammad Abbas Jafri, Muhammad Tanveer Sharif, Salman Ateeq, Hamza Haq, Ziad Mahboob, Aamir Ibrahim, Yasir Saeed Khan, Amal Sadiq Dawood, Effat Mehmood, Maria Urooj, Zain Warsi, Mehreen Zulfiqar, Awais Saleem, Zafar Iqbal, Syed Osman Iqbal Zaidi, Anum Yaqub, Fahad Ali, Obaid Iqbal, Zahid Hussain, Muhammad Ali Qureshi, Danish Siddiqui, Amir Arif, Arshad Ayub, Syed Mudassir Ali, Syed Hammad Hussain, Ayesha Qadri, Sheikh Samiullah, others of M/S Maersk Pakistan Private Limited.
