KARACHI: The Special Court of Customs Taxation and Anti-Smuggling on Friday put off till October 9 a case pertaining to the smuggling of gold worth Rs 35 billion.
The bail application of suspects Muhammad Zubair and Wajahat Minhas, who are behind bars, was listed for hearing but they could not be heard due to absence of their counsel.
According to the prosecution, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Corporate Crime Circle registered an FIR under Section 156(1) (8), 32/32-A punishable under Section 156(1) (14) of Customs Act 1969 against them.
An inquiry conducted by FIA established that Muhammad Shakeel, the deputy director of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, 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 of the licenses.
The alleged gold traders exported 23 karat gold jewellery worth Rs 35 billion to UAE during the period between 2011 and 2012 on fake E-forms as no foreign proceeds returned to the country as an outcome of the gold export.
Muhammad Shakeel, Abdul Qadir, Akmal Aziz, Muhammad Zahid and other accused persons have already been released on bail.
