KARACHI: Widening the ambit of probe in gold smuggling case, the Directorate General of Internal Audit-Customs has decided to send notices to private banks to confirm the number of fake E-forms issued, it is learnt here.
Sources informed Customs Today that the authorities concerned have started to scrutinise not only the export data of gold, but also started to check the import data against the export of gold. The Directorate General of Internal Audit (Customs) has also decided to send notices to private and government banks, including National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB) to ascertain the number of fake E-Forms which have been used in the gold smuggling.
“The quantum of revenue loss to the national exchequer in the gold smuggling scam is to be expected around Rs 250 billion to Rs 300 billion and the case has got a significant importance beyond the imagination of analysts,” sources revealed.
The Directorate General of Internal Audit-Customs has submitted its preliminary report before Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Tariq Bajwa. In the report it is said that Rs 60 billion worth foreign exchange could not be brought into the country due to gold smuggling through submission of fake E-forms.
The report also revealed that the phenomena of gold smuggling on fake E-Forms was not only observed in the collectorates of Karachi, but was also witnessed in the collectorates of Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar and Air Freight Unit.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has already taken up the gold smuggling case and arrested several gold exporters.
