The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has been requested by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to take legal action in the case of the whitewashing of more than 10,000 mobile phone IMEI numbers.
According to sources, PTA addressed a letter to FBR requesting that the investigation be conducted in accordance with the law based on the application that was received.
FBR headquarters have since ordered chief collector North to quickly submit a report on the situation.
The document states that the Customs Collectorate Islamabad has filed formal complaints (FIRs) against two importers, Al-Hamd Enterprises and Pak-China dealers, for falsifying the IMEIs of more than 10,000 smartphones from well-known brands.
The higher-ups at Customs Islamabad, however, are strangely slow to take action against the six customs officers who are accused of conspiring with the importers to fraudulently examine, assess, and release more than 100 consignments of branded and pricey mobile phones, costing the government about Rs. 360 million in lost revenue.
Details indicate that someone complained to Imran Khan Mohmand, chief collector of customs in Islamabad, alleging that specific custom inspectors and appraisers had conspired with the importers.
The complainant claimed that the authorities had only audited six consignments even after the FBR’s post-clearance audit division had discovered the fraud and requested the Islamabad Customs Collectorate to fully uncover the revenue losses caused.
In these consignments, they discovered that although the importers had declared 9,946 mobile phones on their import documents to customs, the six examining officers and appraising officers had falsely examined and assessed to duty and taxes only 5,989 mobile phones, releasing the remaining 3,957 mobile phones without duty and taxes. They also discovered that the examining officers and appraising officers had whitewashed the IMEI numbers of the remaining 3,957 mobile phones, assisting the fraudulent importers in obtaining PTA approvals without
In the interest of the public, the complainant requested that the chief collector file a FIR against the fraudsters and extend the audit of this scam to the previous two years.
Six customs personnel, including Inspector Raja Hamid, Inspector Faraz Hussain, Principal Appraiser Zia Hassan, Customs Appraiser Effan Younis, and Appraiser Officers Saima and Faiza, had been instructed by the Islamabad Collectorate to provide a response for the taming of the mobile GD system.
While only 5,216 mobile phones were reported in the FIRs, and there is no mention of the remaining more than 3,000 phones, the Collectorate itself acknowledged in the explanation memo that 8,299 of those numbers had been altered. This indicates that the Collectorate was allegedly attempting to protect its own employees.
