Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Export, Karachi has unearthed money laundering through fake manual Form-E in rice exports. Two exporters namely M/s Imran Impex, Karachi and M/s First Way Link Traders, Karachi submitted manual Form-E and Goods Declaration to export two consignments of rice weighting 980 metric tons to Azerbaijan under one-customs, valuing US$590000 in both cases.
On suspicion, the MCC Export sent the said Form-E to the relevant bank for verification. The bank later declared the Form-E as fake, saying that these Form-E have not been issued by the bank and the stamps affixed on these forms and the signature thereon did not match with specimen signature/stamps available with the bank. Resultantly, the veracity of said Form-E was denied.
When contacted, collector MCC exports confirmed it, saying that these exporters by submitting fake Form-E made an attempt to avoid paying 0.25 per cent Export Development Surcharge (EDS) besides using exports documents of the said consignments to launder millions of dollars.
Moreover, he said this illicit activity had caused non-realization of foreign exchange into the country. The customs officials said that during initial course of investigation, it was revealed that M/s First Way Link Traders submitted fake Form-E in 11 cases while M/s Imran Impex was also involved in submitting fake Form-E in nine cases. The total value of foreign exchange involved against all fake Form-E amounted US$3.813 million.
The Collectorate has lodged two FIRs against the exporters, clearing agents and the facilitator. In this connection, four persons namely Asmatullah, Muhammad Qasim, Muhammad Nadeem and Muhammad Akhtar have so far been taken into custody. Further investigation is in progress.