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Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) succeeded to prove its reports regarding large-scale green channel smuggling as the Honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr Justice took notice of this mega scam and copy of the Orders sent to the Honourable Chairman NAB Mr. Justice (R) Javed Iqbal for necessary action. After CJP’s notice, DG Customs Intelligence, in his report submitted to the then FBR chairman Tariq Pasha, admitted that green channel facility has been ‘mercilessly abused’ by some syndicates in connivance with a few corrupt customs officers. Another FBR official admitted that almost 10 million containers have been cleared through green channel which shows the exact scale of this scam. It is actually a scam equal to 1000 Avenfields. Customs Today has been reporting on abuse of green channel since past many years. An appeal regarding Rs 1000 billion green channel scam was repeatedly published in the newspaper by senior journalist Asad Kharal and then the complaint was lodged before the Chief Justice in Supreme Court’s Lahore registry. After this complaint, the CJP took notice of the issue and ordered the quarters concerned to submit reply within 10 days. Earlier, Customs Today reported extensively on misuse of green channel facility at Karachi ports where mega brands like Mobilink and QMobile were reported to be grossly abusing green channel facility with connivance of Customs staff. Customs Today exposed mega smuggling scam of Digicom Company (Q-Mobile) as the company cleared more than 750 containers through green channel. Smuggling of dual use precursor acetic anhydride, dangerous chemicals, liquor and electronics items was exposed and reported. Then, Customs Today published several reports about betel nuts smuggling worth billions of rupees through ports at Port Qasim and Appraisement East Collectorate. These reports led to multiple raids, tens of FIRs and recoveries of illegally cleared goods worth billions of rupees. Notwithstanding, these actions were only a token in nature and a drop in ocean whereas much more needs to be unearthed. Customs Today also published investigative reports about changing of strategies by green channel smugglers as they started clearing illegal goods through yellow channel, TP, switch B/L and bonded warehouses. The Honourable Chief Justice and the Honourable NAB chairman have already taken notice of the green channel illegal clearances like other notices of mega corruption cases in Pakistan and even was disqualified as prime minister in a historic decision announced in the . Now, Rukhsana Yasmin has taken charge of FBR chairperson and she has good repute and past corruption-free record. It is hoped she will take a prompt action against abusers of green channel to save billions of rupees losses to the exchequer and precious lives of millions of Pakistanis.In fact, purpose of writing this book is to expose Rs 1000 billion mega scam of customs green channel and appeal the Honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan and Honourable Chairman NAB to take strict action against the culprits to save billions

of rupees of the nation.  02 03

green channel mega scandal. Sources said DG Shaukat Ali has recently admitted ‘excessive misuse’ of aretaker Prime Minister green channel facility with alleged Nasirul Mulk appointed connivance of customs staff and Rukhsana Yasmin, a BS-22 recommended urgent action to arrest Cofficer, as the new chairman of Fed- haemorrhage of state revenue. After eral Board of Revenue (FBR) and DG’s shocking admission, genuine im- transferred and posted former FBR porters expect prompt action by new chairman, Tariq Mahmood Pasha, as FBR chairman against green channel Secretary Statistics. fraudsters to avoid billions of rupees Sources said after taking notice of revenue losses. mega corruption cases including Rs It is pertinent to mention here that 1,000 billion green channel illegal it was only Customs Today which ex- clearances by Chief Justice Mian Saqib posed green channel mega scandal Nisar and Chairman NAB Justice (r) upon which the CJP took notice and Javed Iqbal, the former FBR chairman ordered the FBR authorities includ- was facing tough situation as DG Intel- ing Member Customs Zahid Khokhar, ligence Shaukat Ali admitted ‘merciless Chief Collector Appraisement South misuse’ of green channel facility but Abdul Rasheed Sheikh and DG Cus- other top FBR and Customs of\icials toms Intelligence and Investigation were giving ‘all is well’ report. The issue Shaukat Ali to submit reply within 10 became so hot that it reached to the days. The court associate had sent PM House after CJP’s notice and the PM letter to Chairman NAB for necessary had to take this decision of transfer of action. Ms. Rukhsana Yasmin is the Tariq Pasha. It is expected that action senior most officer of the Federal could be taken against other high of\i- Board of Revenue (FBR) having expe- cials of FBR and Customs Dept in green rience of working both in Pakistan channel mega scam. Customs Service (PCS) and Inland Sources said new FBR Chairman Revenue Service (IRS). Rukhsana Yas- Rukhsana Yasmin is a very honest of- meen belongs to 11th Common \icer and she always worked for bet- Course. On Customs side she has terment of FBR through enhanced ef- worked in different field formation as forts for increasing revenue collection. Collector, Additional Collector, Deputy It is expected she would take notice of Collector and Assistant Collector for mega corruption cases including Rs more than 25 years. She opted to join 1000 billion green channel mega scam. new service group IRS in 2010. She Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan was promoted to Grade-22 in 2016. Abbasi had taken notice of rampant In IRS, she served as Commissioner, corruption at FBR and now the CJP Chief Commissioner and Member of and NAB Chairman took notice of Federal Board of Revenue.  04

CIJLODGESCOMPLAINTTOCHIEF JUSTICE AGAINSTGREENCHANNELSCAM 05 06

NABSTARTSINQUIRY 07

CHIEFJUSTICETAKESNOTICE OFGREENCHANNELMEGASCAM 08

ederal Board of Revenue Member Inland Revenue (Policy) and Spokesperson Dr. Muhammad Iqbal said that if any officers and staff members of customs serviceF are found involved in misuse of green channel facility, FBR will take stern action against them. During an interview with Customs Today, he said that FBR ordered S ecretary Enforcement to investigate the matter and use all available resources to curb the misuse of Green Channel. FBR has submitted a detailed report in Supreme Court regarding the use of facility of green channel. “We are closely monitoring this matter. Member Customs Zahid Khokhar assigned a special task to check that how this facility is being misused and give recommendations how FBR can effectively control green channel facility to avoid its misuse,” he added. He said green channel issue is now in Supreme Court and the matter is sub-judice, therefore, I cannot give any opinion, whatever court will direct to FBR we will implement it without any delay. He said date of amnesty scheme will not be extended because this scheme was approved by the parliament under amnesty and only parliament can extend the date but the parliament has been dissolved. Dr. Iqbal said FBR gets historic success regarding amnesty scheme and more than one trillion rupees assets have been declared to whiten the money after paying Rs53 bil- lion of taxes. Our target is Rs 100 billion and I hope that we can achieve this target. He also mentioned that many people from the country and outside the country are asking to extend the date of amnesty scheme. We have forwarded the recommendations to the that this scheme should be extended for few days. He stated FBR is struggling hard for achieving the revenue targets of current financial year. Replying a question about the checking of asset statements of election candidates he said when election commission will forward it to FBR we will examine and compare with their last statement of assets and deal with the issue as per law. He said under the agreement with Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the bank will start sharing data of Pakistani citizens’ bank accounts from October this year with 104 countries including Great Britain, America, France, Switzerland, Germany and rest of the other European countries. He said that matter of tax related prepaid cell card is still under consideration and no proposal has been finalized yet.  09

the complaint of large-scale misuse of some Customs officers/officials sus- green channel facility and ordered the pected to be involved in facilitating the FBR Member Customs, Chief Collector misuse of Green Channel facility repeat- ustoms Today succeeded to Abdul Rasheed Sheikh and DG I&I to sub- edly made by the Directorate General prove its reports regarding mit reply within 10 days, the have been ignored by FBR. Thus, the ma- green channel smuggling as Directorate General Customs Intelligence nipulators inside the department do not ChiefC Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar put up total blame on the Federal Board of feel discouraged enough to refrain from took notice of the issue and Directorate Revenue (FBR) and the Customs Depart- extending their helping hand to the General Customs Intelligence & Investi- ment while con\irming ‘merciless’ mis- fraudsters. gation (I&I) admitted that green channel use of green channel facility with support In addition to the above, whenever facility has been mercilessly abused by of a few customs of\icials. the Directorate General detected cases some syndicates in connivance with a few After CJP’s notice, FBR advised Direc- of misuse of Green Channel in the recent corrupt customs officers. torate General Customs Intelligence to past, collectorates particularly MCC East Director General Customs I&I Shaukat submit its report. As per report, Direc- Karachi, MCC West Karachi, MCC Port Ali gave full weight to the complaint to torate General Customs Intelligence & Qasim and MCC Appraisement Lahore the extent that the green channel facility Investigation (I&I) placed on record that have reacted sharply against the action at the ports has been “excessively mis- Green Channel facility has been callously taken by the Directorate General of used” and recommended urgent action abused by some syndicates of unscrupu- Customs Intelligence & investigation and to arrest haemorrhage of state revenue. lous fraudsters and the possibility of attempted to protect the fraudsters. This complaint was submitted by senior connivance of few customs officers can- Directorate General Customs Intelligence investigative journalist Asad Kharal to not be ruled out. The above comment & Investigation notes that non-action on Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and re- emanates from the Directorate General’s part of FBR and adverse reaction of peatedly published in Customs Today experience of detection of Green Channel collectorates practically placed hurdles newspaper against green channel illegal related cases and adverse reaction of in the way of the Directorate General clearances worth Rs 1000 billion. some officers/officials in Customs hier- Customs Intelligence & Investigation to In a report submitted to FBR Chair- archy. The Directorate General also men- effectively check the misuse of the green man Tariq Mahmood Pasha after Chief tioned in the report that strong recom- channel facility at ports. See next page Justice Mian Saqib Nisar took notice of mendations of placing under suspension 10

associate also sent the notic man NAB for notice and ne ustoms Today extensively covered and Following is the compl reported since past few years the mis- the Chief Justice and the use of green channel facility and pub- As per application and a Clished repeatedly an appeal of senior inves- \iled by Asad Kharal, Chair tigative journalist Asad Kharal to the Chief vestigative Journalism (CIJ Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and the NAB chair- scam of green channel smu man Justice (r) Javed Iqbal to take notice of Rs at ports of Pakistan: 1000 billion green channel illegal clearances. • Customs Department a The Chief Justice took notice of the com- clearances happen in green plaint, as Asad Kharal appeared before the smugglers are ensured that court and submitted the complaint regarding not be checked by customs green channel smuggling, and ordered the con- • Green channel facility cerned quarters including FBR Member sively to rich people who ha Customs Zahid Khokhar, Chief Collector Ab- that they can cause bigger r dul Rasheed Sheikh and DG Intelli- national exchequer and co gence Shaukat Ali to submit re- cers can make even bigger ply within 10 days. The court • High value goods lik items and health hazardou nuts, narcotics substances and explosives are cleared customs staff without any nation. • Millions of Pakistani and lives due to smuggl through green chann • More than Rs 1 curred due to the Genuine importers once scam but the cus again appealed to CJP and not ready to tak rect its ways Chairman NAB to take strict customs of\icer aries of the enti action against‘corrupt maGa’ Coverage o of Customs Dept and green sue by Custom It is importa channel smugglers for sake that Customs Tod ing on abuse of g of national economy past many years and port regarding misus facility has con\irmed th day also unearthed mega b 11

ce copy to the Chair- and QMobile which were reported to be grossly ecessary action. abusing Green Channel facility with connivance laint submitted to of Customs staff. Customs Today exposed mega NAB Chairman: smuggling scam of Digicom Company (Q-Mo- ccompanied appeal bile) as the company cleared more than 750 rman Centre for In- containers through green channel. J) Pakistan, a mega On 2nd February 2018, Customs Today ex- uggling is unearthed posed a smuggling bid of 15,520 liters of dual use precursor acetic anhydride worth around admits that 46% of $1.5 million at Port Qasim. The acetic anhy- n channel where the dride is a main ingredient for preparing nar- t their goods would cotics substance as well as making highly dan- s of\icers at ports. gerous explosives by the terrorist out\its. Then, y is provided exclu- Customs Today published several reports about ave big turnovers so betel nuts smuggling worth billions of rupees evenue losses to the through ports at Port Qasim and Appraisement rrupt customs of\i- East Collectorate. Customs Today reported on money out of it. Feb 28 that an Additional Collector at Port e mobiles, banned Qasim, under a plan, used to keep entire staff us goods like betel busy with futile re-examinations and re-as- s, cigarettes, liquor sessments of genuine importers so that his ac- d by a few corrupt complices from the green channel smugglers checking or exami- get a good chance to smuggle goods without ex- amination in green channel. This kind of prac- is are losing health tice gave rise to huge smuggling through green ing of banned items channel. nel Chambers raise voices against green 000 billion losses in- channel abuse: green channel mega Customs Today extensively covered the is- toms authorities are sue of misuse of green channel facility and in- ke any action or cor- volvement of corrupt Customs of\icials of Port s because senior Qasim and Appraisement East Collectorate. rs are huge bene\ici- Different chambers of commerce, associa- ire scam. tions and tax bars also raised the issue of green f green channel is- channel smuggling and compelled the FBR to ms Today: take action against corrupt of\icials. nt to mention here Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Pres- day has been report- ident Shiekh Amir Waheed has said that these green channel since corrupt of\icials are the real enemy of the coun- d DG Intelligence re- try because they are involved in causing huge se of green channel loss in shape of revenue to national exchequer. his fact. Customs To- See next page brands like Mobilink 12

He demanded serious action against such prevent its misuse in the country after reveal- of Customs department and FBR is suspicious. black sheep in the customs department. While ing recent scams on Port Qasim. It is very un- A timely and result-oriented action shall be talking to Customs Today,ICCI President Amir fortunate that a few customs of\icials are in- taken to halt further loss to revenue and break further said, “Our country faces leakage in the volved in unscrupulous activities at Port the network of corrupt of\icials. Attack on revenue collection, but black sheep in the cus- Qasim and they are allowing smugglers to Asad Kharal after green channel complaint: toms department are collecting parallel rev- throw their smuggled goods in the markets af- Soon after submission of a complaint against enue by such bribe and clearance of contra- ter getting clearance through green channel. Rs 1000 billion green channel illegal clear- band goods and unfortunately this parallel President of Karachi Chamber of Commerce ances to the CJP and the NAB, Asad Kharal revenue are more higher that our revenue col- and Industry (KCCI), Mufassir Atta Malik, has was attacked and assaulted in Lahore on 6th lected by the department.” President Federa- said that it is true that majority of importers June and he remained under treatment at the tion of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and In- are facing dif\iculties in clearance of their con- Services Hospital and CMH. He received seri- dustry Ghazanfer Bilour while talking to signments due to unnecessary hurdles cre- ous injuries to his neck, arm and other parts of Customs Today said Customs Appraisement ated by corrupt customs of\icials. Answering the body.The senior journalist was on his way East R&D Section has crossed every limit to to a question, he said: “We are going to make home from the airport when his vehicle was hamper ef\iciency of customs department a complaint to customs higher authorities intercepted. He was taken out from the car through clearance of contraband goods and about these corrupt of\icials.” He further said and assaulted. In his FIR, he had neither en- Federation of Chamber of Commerce and In- due to such corrupt of\icials a question has mity with anybody nor it was an incident of dustry will take up mega green channel smug- been marked on the reputation of customs robbery. “They wanted to frighten me. They gling issue with the higher authorities of cus- department. Senior Vice President, attacked me because I had sensitive informa- toms department. Vice President Federation of Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and In- tion about corruption cases of Rs500-1000 Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry dustry (RCCI) Mohammad Nasir Mirza while billion per case in my USB and phones. I (FPCCI) Syeda Masooma Sibtain and member talking to Customs Today said Pakistan is fac- wanted to present them to the Supreme Court of Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry ing revenue shortfall, while network of corrupt and the NAB.” Notice of green channel smug- said Pakistan Customs should modify its clear- of\icials is playing in the hands of smugglers, gling by the Chief Justice: These reports led to ance procedure under causing billions of rupees loss to the excheq- multiple raids, tens of FIRs and recoveries of il- green channel facility to uer,and criminal silence of higher authorities legally cleared goods worth billions of rupees.

In fact, in a single raid at a SITE area godown, 600,000 Kgs. of betel nuts worth Rs 1.5 billion were seized. Notwithstanding, these actions were only as token in nature and is a drop in the ocean whereas much more needs to be done. Customs Today also published investigative reports about changing of strategies by green channel smugglers as they started clearing illegal goods through yellow channel & TP.At last, Chief Justice Mian Saqib took notice of the issue and this step could help eradicate corruption ma\ia from the country especially in Customs De- partment as green channel smug- gling is in\licting heavy losses on the national exchequer.The chief justice and the NAB chairman have also took suo moto notices of mega cor- ruption cases in Pakistan and even Nawaz Sharif was disquali\ied as prime minister in a historic deci- sion announced in the Panama Pa- pers case. Genuine importers once again appealed to the Chief Justice and Chairman NAB to take strict ac- tion against ‘corrupt ma\ia’ of Cus- toms Dept and green channel smug- glers for the sake of national economy.  13 14 15

DGCUSTOMSREFFEREDSEVERALGREEN CHANNELCASESBUTFBRTOOKNOACTION 16 17

LISTOFSEIZURECASESCLEAREDTHRUGREEN CHANNELFROMOCT2016TOMAY2018 18

LISTOFCONTRAVENTIONCASESCLEAREDTHRU GREENCHANNELFROMOCT2016TOMAY2018 19

CUSTOMSI&IDEMANDSSUSPENSION OFACCUSEDAPPRAISINGOFFICERBUT FBRDIDNOTTAKEANYACTION 20

rector General Shahzad Saleem as it recovered Rs 18 gard, he added. billion from corrupt people and returned the amount He said mega corru hairman NAB Justice (r) Javed Iqbal said that to the affectees in a short span of just 7 months, tak- logical conclusion as p the NAB would continue its ‘Jihad’ against ing the level of trust of common people on the insti- evidence. All accused corruption even after receiving threats of tution to new heights. The NAB also brought 1328 status and position en Cbomb attack on its headquarters. culprits to the justice in this period. He said the NAB The NAB Chairman said NAB of\icials were not He said the Bureau has taken up mega corruption general elections. It w afraid and would continue to perform their duties cases and in next few days, several mega corruption plunderers of national with dedication. He asserted, ‘death and life is in hands references would be \iled in accountability courts with looted money from th of Allah. We do not fear from anyone except Allah and solid evidences. in the national exchequ His Prophet (PBUH)’. He said it is for the \irst time in 70 years that NAB the looters to stand in As per details, Customs Today raised the issue of has asked the corrupt elements why powers given to Supreme Court, high c billions of rupees green channel mega smuggling and them were not used in a transparent manner and why would be implemente senior journalist Asad Kharal lodged a complaint with money collected from taxpayers was looted with both He directed the N Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar who took the notice hands. He said NAB would prefer case over face and it plaint verification, in and ordered the concerned authorities of FBR to sub- has nothing to do with elections, adding that NAB’s merit, with honesty, mit the reply. The court associate also sent a copy to only purpose is to serve Pakistan and eliminate concrete evidence. the NAB for necessary action. Soon after lodging the corruption. He hoped that NAB Lahore would Since Javed Iqbal to complaint, smugglers of green channel or corrupt continue its good work in future as well. “Billions of NAB has \iled 101 ma\ia of Customs Dept attacked Kharal near Lahore rupees corruption was witnessed in Punjab in com- corruption cases regis Airport and assaulted him severely. panies’ scandal. Corrupt elements would be dealt with Recently, NAB G Kharal hinted at Rs500-1000 billion corruption iron hands as per law. We have promoted the culture of\icers of the of\ice cases in the Supreme Court and the NAB as main cause of ‘work, work and work’ in NAB,” he added. Baltistan. Deputy acco of his attack. He also warned that due to these high- Meanwhile, NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed and account of\icer Ri pro\ile corruption cases, even the CJP and the NAB Iqbal visited the NAB Lahore of\ice for the second con- their of\ice in Gilgit. Ac chairman were not safe enough saying that ‘the ma\ia secutive day. NAB Lahore Director General Shehzad connivance with of\ic can also target the Chief Justice and the NAB chairman Saleem briefed the chairman in detail regarding the Diamer embezzled gov and I advise them to step up their security’. Now the cases referred by the Supreme Court including the 2012 to 2015. The of Chairman NAB has received the threats, possibly from appointment of former Oversees Commissioner Afzaal and caused a loss of R corrupt ma\ia or smugglers of green channel. Bhatti, Punjab Institute of Cardiology misappropria- uer, the NAB said. Acco Since his joining as NAB chairman, Javed Iqbal has tion case, inquiry against Tariq Jawad, Makhdoom were presented in the taken up several mega cases of corruption against big- Umer Shehryar and other inquiries. the court allowed the wigs. In an important case, the NAB has decided to ap- The NAB chairman directed completing all investi- Earlier, the NAB had ar proach Interpol authorities to bring back former \i- gations of cases referred by the apex court in letter and department GB in Feb nance minister Ishaq Dar and both sons of deposed spirit. No negligence would be tolerated in this re- prime minister Hassan and Hussain Nawaz to the country for their involvement in multiple cases pending with the bureau. Hassan and Hussain have been declared absconders in the Aven\ield reference case which is at its brim in the accounta- bility court with lawyers of both sides presenting their concluding arguments. Dar has been indicted in the assets beyond income case pending before the accountability court which involves bigwigs from the State Bank and National Bank. The bureau has decided to reach out to relevant Interpol authorities to bring back the trio. With the request, NAB will attach additional documents ver- ifying why the three need to be brought back to the country. Furthermore, the NAB Chairman visited Lahore of\ice of the Bureau and appreciated per- formance of its of\icials under supervision of its Di- 21

uption cases should be taken to er law and after collecting solid are equal before law and their nds outside the NAB of\ice. does not have any links with would take strict action against l wealth and will recover all the e corrupt and deposit the same uer. He said the NAB would force the dock. He said the verdicts of ourts and accountability courts d. NAB officers to conduct com- nquiries and investigations on transparency while ensuring ook charge in October last year, references out of 179 mega stered with the watchdog. ilgit-Baltistan arrested two of Accountant General Gilgit- untant general Nadeem Ahmed iaz Ahmed were arrested from ccording to NAB, the accused in ials of agriculture department vernment funds during the year f\icials misused their authority Rs24.8 million to public excheq- ording to NAB, both the accused Accountability Court Gilgit and ir physical remand to NAB GB. rrested 3 of\icials of agriculture bruary in the same case.  22

ruption cases of Rs500-1000 billion per case in my USB and phones. I enior journalist and an- wanted to present them to the chorperson Asad Kharal Supreme Court and the NAB." registered an FIR under “Such tactics cannot scare me SectionS 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act from my duty of public service and against unknown assailants who patriotism. The ma\ia can also tar- attacked him near Allama Iqbal In- get the chief justice and the NAB ternational Airport in wee hours of chairman and I advise them to step 6 June, 2018. up their security.I have concrete ev- He is associated and contributes idence of corruption and the chief to Customs Today.His investigative justice should summon me to his journalism strength has enabled chamber to hear me,” he observed. Customs Today to unearth many It is pertinent to mention here huge mega scams in customs de- that recently Asad Kharal repeat- partment including Rs 1,000 billion edly published full page appeals to green channel scam. It cannot be the Chief Justice of Pakistan in Cus- ruled out that he was attacked by toms Today newspaper on the Rs. ‘corrupt ma\ia’ of customs or smug- 1,000 Billion mega scam of green glers of green channel due to his channel. Big names like Mobilink recent complaint on Rs 1,000 bil- and QMobile are reported to be in- lion customs green channel scam volved in the mega scam. Last Fri- published in Customs Today as the day 1 June 2018, he appeared at Chief Justice has taken notice of his the Supreme Court and \iled com- appeal and complaint and called plaint along with the copies of the for reply from the concerned quar- appeals. He also \iled two more ters within 10 days. complaints. Chief Justice of Pak- According to details, Asad istan Mian Saqib Nisar took notice Kharal survived an assassination of all three complaints and called attempt in Lahore on 6th June and for reports from relevant quarters he is under treatment at the Serv- within 10 days. In a letter dated ices Hospital. He received serious Tuesday 5 June marked as Imme- injuries to his neck, arm and other diate/urgent, the court asked FBR parts of the body. The senior jour- chairman for reply and sent copy to nalist was on his way home from the Chairman NAB for information the airport when his vehicle was and necessary action. On the very intercepted. He was taken out from next day of this letter in the wee the car and assaulted. hours of Wednesday Asad Kharal In his FIR, Asad Kharal de- was attacked by ‘masked men’ near manded formation of a joint inves- Allama Iqbal International Airport. tigation team (JIT) to identify the Asad Kharal has been active in assailants. He said about 10 attack- unveiling many mega scams and ers were riding three vehicles and corruption cases where big and they were armed and had covered powerful individuals, bureaucrats their faces and hands. “I do not and political personalities are want to lodge a case because the hooked. However, Asad Kharal is police cannot take action against yet to accuse anyone of the attack. them. I will lodge a case if a high- Customs Today team condemns level joint investigation team (JIT) the brutal attack on the senior jour- is formed, comprising people from nalist Asad Kharal. Customs Today intelligence agencies besides the stands for security for all journal- police. The JIT can be effective only ists and media persons in Pakistan. if Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian It is unfortunate that Pakistan has Saqib Nisar heads it,” he added. been ranked 139th out of 180 He said he had neither enmity countries in the 2017 World Press with anybody nor it was an incident Freedom Index maintained by the of robbery.“They wanted to frighten Reporters Without Borders (RSF). me. They attacked me because I had Pakistan should be an entirely safe sensitive information about cor- place for all media persons.  23

Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar in a report. Furthermore, the police are ahzad Sultan, head of conducting geo-fencing of the JIT formed to investi- place of the incident with the gate attack on senior help of the Counter-Terrorism journalistS Asad Kharal, has con- Department (CTD) and Intelli- stituted a sub-JIT to take the gence Bureau. Khokhar told case ahead speedily. Asad media that the committee Kharal was attacked few days would ensure continuous ago by armed assailants, most oversight of the matter. Mean- probably for pursuing billions while, senior journalist and of rupees corruption and green anchorperson Asad Kharal had channel smuggling cases. registered an FIR under Sec- It is reported that sub-JIT tion 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act comprises four of\icers includ- against unknown assailants ing SP Naveed, DSP Nasir Pan- who attacked him near Allama jota, Inspector Imran and In- Iqbal International Airport in spector Rana Siddique. This JIT wee hours of June 6. would extend full support to Asad Kharal is associated high level JIT to investigate and contributes to Customs To- case regarding attack on Asad day. His investigative journal- Kharal who was pursuing most ism strength has enabled Cus- important cases of corruption toms Today to unearth many in the SC and the NAB. huge mega scams in customs Earlier, a high level joint in- department including Rs 1,000 vestigation team (JIT) was billion green channel scam. It formed to probe the matter cannot be ruled out that he following directives from the was attacked by ‘corrupt ma\ia’ Punjab government. The JIT of customs or smugglers of comprised Inter-Services In- green channel due to his recent telligence (ISI), Military Intel- complaint on Rs 1,000 billion ligence (MI) and CTD of\icials. customs green channel scam Senior Journalist Asad published in Customs Today as Kharal informed police that he the Chief Justice has taken was attacked for pursuing im- notice of his appeal and com- portant cases of billions of ru- plaint and called for reply from pees corruption in the National the concerned quarters within Accountability Bureau (NAB) 10 days. and the Supreme Court. According to details, Asad He said Punjab police Kharal survived an assassina- shared these details with tion attempt in Lahore on 6th chairman of the standing com- June and shifted to the mittee on human rights Services Hospital. Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar and See next page 24

n his FIR, Asad Kharal had de- 1,000 Billion mega scam of green manded formation of a joint in- channel. Big names like Mobilink and Ivestigation team (JIT) to identify QMobile are reported to be involved the assailants. He said about 10 at- in the mega scam. tackers were riding three vehicles Last Friday 1 June 2018, he ap- and they were armed and had cov- peared at the Supreme Court and ered their faces and hands. “I do not filed complaint along with the copies ‘Get well soon’ want to lodge a case because the po- of the appeals. He also filed two more card with Bouquet lice cannot take action against them. complaints. Chief Justice of Pakistan I will lodge a case if a high-level joint Mian Saqib Nisar took notice of all sent by Chairman investigation team (JIT) is formed, three complaints and called for re- NAB Justice (r) comprising people from intelligence ports from relevant quarters within agencies besides the police. The JIT 10 days. In a letter dated Tuesday 5 Javed Iqbal and can be effective only if Chief Justice June marked as Immediate/urgent, Chairman PEMRA of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar heads the court asked FBR chairman for re- it,” he added. ply and sent copy to the Chairman Ashfak Jumani to Asad Kharal said he had neither NAB for information and necessary senior enmity with anybody nor it was an action. On the very next day of this incident of robbery. “They wanted to letter in the wee hours of June 6 Asad investigative frighten me. They attacked me be- Kharal was attacked by ‘masked men’ journalist Asad cause I had sensitive information near Allama Iqbal International Air- about corruption cases of Rs500- port. Asad Kharal has been active Kharal 1000 billion per case in my USB in unveiling many mega scams and phones. I wanted to pres- and corruption cases where uals, bureaucrats and political ent them to the Supreme big and powerful individ- personalities are hooked. Court and the NAB.” However, Asad Kharal is yet to “Such tactics cannot accuse anyone of the attack. scare me from my duty of Meanwhile, senior investigative public service and patri- journalist Asad Karal thanked Chief otism. The mafia can also Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar target the chief justice and for ordering his admission to CMH the NAB chairman and I ad- Lahore. Asad Kharal said, “I was vise them to step up their se- treated properly as per advice of curity. I have concrete evi- AsadKharalthanksDGISPRMajor the three Brig doctors. I am really dence of corruption and the thankful to Honorable Chief chief justice should summon GeneralAsifGhafoor,LahoreCorps Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian me to his chamber to hear CommanderLtGeneralAamerRiaz, Saqib Nisar, worthy Chief of me,” he observed. Army staff General Qamar It is pertinent to mention MilitaryIntelligencePunjabBrigM. Javed Bajwa and worthy Chair- here that recently Asad man NAB Justice Retired Javed Kharal repeatedly published KashifAzad,DGNABKarachiAltaf Iqbal for giving me inspiration full page appeals to the Chief Bawanyforbestwishes to serve my nation at any cost.” “ Justice of Pakistan in Customs See next page Today newspaper on the Rs. 25 26

“I did everything for my beloved country the national exchequer. The chief justice and to siphon off large amounts of funds through as well as beloved people of Pakistan and the NAB chairman already took suo moto no- their bank accounts. It said according to the overseas Pakistanis in particular.” Asad tices of mega corruption cases in Pakistan and testimony of Khaista Khan and Jamshed Khan Kharal was attacked and seriously injured even Nawaz Sharif was disquali\ied as prime before NAB, the Sharif family illegally sent by armed assailants few days ago and ad- minister in a historic decision announced in funds converted into foreign currencies mitted to Services Hospital but he was not the Panama Papers case. abroad regularly. properly treated there. Meanwhile, senior investigative journalist The complaint said Khalid Siraj, a \irst It is pertinent to mention that Chief Justice Asad Karal has thanked Lahore Corps Com- cousin and business partner of Mr Sharif, had of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar took notice of a mander Lt General Aamer Riaz for sending a disclosed in a statement recorded complaint \iled by senior journalist Asad bouquet and best wishes to him. before the Federal Investigation Agency in the Kharal against illegal clearances through green Asad Kharal, who was seriously injured in Panama Papers case, the Sharif family’s mis- channel and ordered report/comments from an assassination attempt in Lahore few days deeds, including transfer of funds aboard and concerned quarters within 10 days while the ago, said, “Special Thanks to Respected Lt Gen- purchase of assets in foreign countries. court associate sent the order copy to the eral Mr. Aamer Riaz Hi(M) Commander 4 “Between 1988 and 1991, Rs56.896 mil- Chairman NAB for necessary action. corps Lahore for sending his best wishes to lion was sent out of the country,” the com- According to details, the chief justice took me.” 'Get well soon' card with Bouquet is sent plaint said. notice on a complaint accompanied by an ap- by Chairman NAB through DG NAB Lahore, According to the complaint, Mr Siraj said peal published in Customs Today about Rs DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor, Military initially Rs140m was transferred to the Bank 1000 billion mega scam of green channel ille- Intelligence Punjab Brig M. Kashif Azad, DG of Oman in Sharjah from Pakistan through gal clearances. It is worthy to mention here NAB Karachi Altaf Bawany and Chairman Hawala/Hundi. Later,the amount was credited that Customs Today has been reporting on PEMRA Ashfak Jumani to senior investigative to the Shamrock Consulting Corporation abuse of green channel since past many years. journalist Asad Kharal. through the Allied Bank’s London Stock Ex- These reports led to multiple raids, tens of Meanwhile, the NAB launched another high change branch. The amount was used al- FIRs and recoveries of illegally cleared goods level inquiry against former prime minister legedly in the purchase of the Park Lane apart- worth billions of rupees. In fact, in a single Nawaz Sharif over money laundering allega- ment during 1993-96. raid at a SITE area godown, 600,000 Kgs. of tions on the complaint of senior investigative The complaint said the World Bank and the betel nuts worth Rs 1.5 billion were seized. journalist, Asad Kharal. The spokesperson for United Nations Of\ice of Drugs and Crime had Notwithstanding, these actions were only NAB said Kharal recorded his statement be- jointly initiated a report for stolen asset re- as token in nature and is a drop in the ocean fore the bureau and submitted relevant record covery, implicating Mr Sharif vide case no. whereas much more needs to be done. Cus- to NAB investigators. According to the 147, and found him liable under Article 17 toms Today also published investigative re- spokesperson, the complainant provided de- and 23 of the United Nations Convention ports about changing of strategies by green tails about alleged money laundering by Sharif Against Corruption, of which Pakistan was channel smugglers as they started clearing il- and his family members. also signatory. It is worthy to mention here legal goods through yellow channel & TP. Sharif and his family members have been that Supreme Court also took notice on com- Millions of Pakistanis pinned high hopes facing similar charges in the references made plaint of Asad Kharal published in Customs on Chief Justice Mian Saqib and Chairman NAB under the Panama Papers case and being tried Today about Rs1000 billion illegal clearances Justice (retired) Javed Iqbal that they would in the Accoun¬tability Court in Islamabad. through green channel facility at ports of the eradicate corruption ma\ia from the country The fresh complaint said Khaista Khan and country. After the notice taken by the CJP, the especially in Customs Department as green Jamshed Khan, Hawala/Hundi dealers from court associate sent the copy to the NAB for channel smuggling is in\licting heavy losses on Peshawar, were engaged by the Sharif family necessary action in this regard.  27

Pakistan are controlled. istan Customs has made it. In other countries Sources said 17 questions were sent to the where 97% is cleared in green channel then ustoms Today has been covering the head of customs but he did not reply to the 100% is scanned. This means a person cannot greenchannelmegascamsincemany questions and was running away from it. Ex- declare iron scrap while clearing liquor in it. years. Senior customs of\icials have tensiveresearchrevealedthatanFBRof\icialat This kind of clearance of liquor while declar- beenC denying their role in the Rs. 1,000 billion one instance has mentioned to media on how ing iron scrap is possible only in Pakistan mega scam of green channel and avoiding an- many containers are released under green green channel due to high corruption of some sweringspeci\icquestionsrelatedtothescam. channelwithoutscanningorexamination.The of the top customs of\icers. If the senior customs of\icials are honest then FBR of\icial said that 700,000 consignments Sources further revealed, in many other whyaretheyhidingfactsfromthenation?Why were released under green channel. He tried countries,theyhaveonlytwochannels;redand they are hiding that their senior customs of\i- not to tell the number of containers. But ex- green. In red channel they do examination of cial is also director in the green channel re- perts say that each consignment is made up of each container and in green channel they scan lated software and security company PRAL? 4 to 20 containers. Even if we take an average the containers and also do random examina- Why they were hiding that green channel is on the lower side then too it will be around 7 tion.ButinPakistan,thecommitteeinchargeof ‘mercilessly misused’ and that customs of\i- containers per consignment. This means Risk Management System (RMS) cleverly kept cialsareinvolvedinthemegascamandwhyDG 700,000consignmentsx7containerspercon- threechannels:red,yellowandgreen.Thegen- Intelligence had to expose this fact? signment = around 49 lac containers. uine importers of Pakistan have appealed to Customs Today succeeded to prove its re- Sources said green channel scam started in the NAB chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal and ports regarding green channel smuggling as 2011-2012.Hence,ifwemultiplytheabove\ig- also to the new FBR Chairman Rukhsana Yas- Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar took ure to last 6 years of green channel clearances meen to investigate regarding the people who noticeoftheissueandDirectorateGeneralCus- then it will be around 30 million containers. controlledthiscommitteeandmanipulatedthe tomsIntelligence&Investigation(I&I)admitted Eveniftakethe\igureonthelowersidethentoo green channel for ulterior motives. thatgreenchannelfacilityhasbeenmercilessly it will not be less than 10 million containers in Sourcessaidrandomcheckingwhichishap- abused by some syndicates in connivance with greenchannelclearedwithoutscanningandex- pening in green channel of the other countries a few corrupt customs of\icers. The Supreme amination.Somuchofliquor,mobiles,electronic happens in yellow channel in Pakistan. In fact, Court associate also wrote to Chairman NAB to items,cigarettes,betelnuts,chemicals,etc.have other countries scan 100% of their goods in takenecessaryaction.AfterCJP’snotice,itisex- been poured into the country through green green channel and in Pakistan scanning is not pectedtheRs.1,000billionofthenationrobbed channel. Pakistan has lost Rs. 1,000 billion and there even in yellow channel! This is why there by customs high of\icials would be returned to also millions of lives and properties due to this. is so much of misuse of yellow channel in Pak- them. Sources said we have now dug deep into Sources said the FBR of\icial in media re- istan and even green channel is not possible to the values and volumes of losses that Pakistan ports claimed that 97% of goods in other misuse in other countries like this. The kind of revenue is facing due to this mega scam of cus- countriesareclearedingreenchannelwhilein system made in green channel in Pakistan is tomshighof\icials.Wehavefoundthatthisisthe Pakistanitis47%.Thisismerelyanattemptto obviously made so that the rich and powerful biggest ever scam in the history of Pakistan. misleadthemedia.Inothercountries,thecon- peoplecanpaymoneytoCustomshighof\icials Pakistan can pay off all its debts in a matter of cept of green channel itself is totally different togetintothegreenchannelandmintbillionsof few years if only these green channel losses of from what some of the corrupt ma\ia of Pak- rupees at the cost of national economy.  28 29

initiate steps to check the menace of smuggling and submit the report of hief Justice of Pakistan actions taken to the chairman FBR by Mian Saqib Nisar rebuffed June 7, 2018 for onward submission the FBR authorities on to the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Copen sale of smuggled goods in ma- The action would be taken by jor markets while ordered the high- Member Customs. ups to submit comments on a re- The CJP has taken notice of smug- lated complaint of green channel gling related issues raised and smuggling by 11th June 2018. The reported extensively by media espe- tax authorities decided in a meeting cially by Customs Today. Customs To- held at the FBR House to ensure day published a series of investiga- compliance with the directives of tive reports about large scale the Chief Justice of Supreme Court smuggling of different banned items during the hearing proceedings of through green channel with the help suo motu case #11/2018 on of a few corrupt customs of\icials. 05.06.2018. After CJP's suo moto notice, Pak- The letter No. C No. 15(3) istan Customs launched anti-smug- E&C/2018/71701 was issued by gling operations across the country Muhammad Saleem Memon, Secre- and Peshawar Customs Intelligence tary Enforcement and Coordination and Investigation in a crackdown on to DG I&I and Chief Collector North smuggled goods recovered cloth on 6 June, 2018 in this regard. worth Rs 30 million from Karkhano In line with the directions of the Market, Peshawar.Similarly, Customs Supreme Court, the FBR held a de- \ield formations have accelerated tailed meeting to \inalize practical anti-smuggling operations in the steps to control the menace of country. Earlier, the CJP took notice smuggling in the said areas with- in case No 21502-P/2018 of a com- out delay. During the meeting, the plaint \iled against illegal clearances chairman FBR informed the through green channel and ordered members that the Chief Justice of report/comments from concerned Pakistan communicated his quarters within 10 days while the displeasure on the open sale of court associate sent the order copy smuggled goods across the country, to the Chairman NAB for necessary especially in Hayatabad Karkhano action. When Customs Today corre- Market Peshawar, Blue Area Islam- spondent sought details from Mem- abad, Rawalpindi Bara Market and ber Customs Zahid Khokhar about other main markets in various ma- the case, he said he did not receive jor cities of the country. The Chief any notice yet. Justice warned if the menace of According to details, the chief smuggling was not checked, it could justice took notice on a complaint lead to destruction of the indige- accompanied by an appeal published nous manufacturing industry and in Customs Today about Rs 1000 other allied sectors. billion mega scam of green channel The FBR had decided that Mem- illegal clearances. ber Customs would immediately See next page 30

As per application and accompanied losses incurred due to the green channel published several reports about betel nuts appeal filed by Asad Kharal, senior jour- mega scam but the customs authorities smuggling worth billions of rupees nalist and Chairman Centre for Investiga- are not ready to take any action or correct through ports at Port Qasim and Ap- tive Journalism (CIJ) Pakistan, a mega its ways because senior customs officers praisement East Collectorate. scam of green channel smuggling is un- are huge beneficiaries of the entire scam. These reports led to multiple raids, tens of earthed at ports of Pakistan: Customs Today is partner of the CIJ Pak- FIRs and recoveries of illegally cleared goods •Customs Department admits that 46% istan in all its matters related to customs. worth billions of rupees. In fact, in a single of clearances happen in green channel It is worthy to mention here that Customs raid at a SITE area godown, 600,000 Kgs. of where the smugglers are ensured that Today has been reporting on abuse of betel nuts worth Rs 1.5 billion were seized. their goods would not be checked by cus- green channel since past many years. Notwithstanding, these actions were only as toms officers at ports. Mega brands like Mobilink and QMobile token in nature and is a drop in the ocean •Green channel facility is provided ex- were reported to be grossly abusing Green whereas much more needs to be done. Cus- clusively to rich people who have big Channel facility with connivance of Cus- toms Today also published investigative re- turnovers so that they can cause bigger toms staff. Customs Today exposed mega ports about changing of strategies by green revenue losses to the national exchequer smuggling scam of Digicom Company (Q- channel smugglers as they started clearing il- and corrupt customs officers can make Mobile) as the company cleared more than legal goods through yellow channel & TP.Mil- even bigger money out of it. 750 containers through green channel. In lions of Pakistanis pinned high hopes on Chief •High value goods like mobiles, banned another case, the company did not pay Justice Mian Saqib and Chairman NAB Justice items and health hazardous goods like be- Sales Tax of Rs 772 million on import of (retired) Javed Iqbal that they would eradi- tel nuts, narcotics substances, cigarettes, total 2,410,560 mobiles. cate corruption ma\ia from the country es- liquor and explosives are cleared by a few On 2nd February 2018, Customs Today pecially in Customs Department as green corrupt customs staff without any check- exposed a smuggling bid of 15,520 liters channel smuggling is in\licting heavy losses ing or examination. of dual use precursor acetic anhydride on the national exchequer. The chief justice •Millions of Pakistanis are losing health worth around $1.5 million at Port Qasim. and the NAB chairman already took suo moto and lives due to smuggling of banned The acetic anhydride is a main ingredient notices of mega corruption cases in Pakistan items through green channel for preparing narcotics substance as well and even Nawaz Sharif was disquali\ied as •More than as making highly dangerous explosives by prime minister in a historic decision an- Rs 1000 billion the terrorist outfits. Then, Customs Today nounced in the Panama Papers case.  31

nuts, narcotics substances, cigarettes, liquor On 2nd February 2018, Customs Today and explosives are cleared by a few corrupt exposed a smuggling bid of 15,520 liters of customs staff without any checking or ex- dual use precursor acetic anhydride worth hief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib amination. around $1.5 million at Port Qasim. The acetic Nisar took notice of a complaint •Millions of Pakistanis are losing health anhydride is a main ingredient for preparing \iled against illegal clearances and lives due to smuggling of banned items narcotics substance as well as making highly Cthrough green channel and ordered re- through green channel dangerous explosives by the terrorist out\its. port/comments from concerned quarters •More than Rs 1000 billion losses in- Then, Customs Today published several re- within 10 days while the court associate sent curred due to the green channel mega scam ports about betel nuts smuggling worth bil- the order copy to the Chairman NAB for nec- but the customs authorities are not ready lions of rupees through ports at Port Qasim essary action. to take any action or correct its ways be- and Appraisement East Collectorate. According to details, the chief justice took cause senior customs of\icers are huge ben- These reports led to multiple raids, tens of notice on a complaint accompanied by an e\iciaries of the entire scam. FIRs and recoveries of illegally cleared goods appeal published in Customs Today about Asad Kharal, in the application, also worth billions of rupees. In fact, in a single Rs 1000 billion mega scam of green channel pointed to the fact that there are similar raid at a SITE area godown, 600,000 Kgs. of illegal clearances. complaints/inquiries also pending at NAB. betel nuts worth Rs 1.5 billion were seized. As per application and accompanied ap- On this complaint, the chief justice took no- Notwithstanding, these actions were only as peal \iled by Asad Kharal, senior journalist tice and ordered report/ comments from token in nature and is a drop in the ocean and Chairman Centre for Investigative Jour- concerned quarters within 10 days. Copy of whereas much more needs to be done. nalism (CIJ) Pakistan, a mega scam of green the order is also sent to the Chairman NAB Customs Today also published investigative channel smuggling is unearthed at ports of for information and necessary action. reports about changing of strategies by green Pakistan: Customs Today is partner of the CIJ Pak- channel smugglers as they started clearing •Customs Department admits that 46% istan in all its matters related to customs. illegal goods through yellow channel & TP. of clearances happen in green channel It is worthy to mention here that Customs Millions of Pakistanis pinned high hopes on where the smugglers are ensured that their Today has been reporting on abuse of green Chief Justice Mian Saqib and Chairman NAB goods would not be checked by customs of- channel since past many years. Mega brands Justice (retired) Javed Iqbal that they would \icers at ports. like Mobilink and QMobile were reported to eradicate corruption ma\ia from the country •Green channel facility is provided exclu- be grossly abusing Green Channel facility with especially in Customs Department as green sively to rich people who have big turnovers connivance of Customs staff. Customs Today channel smuggling is in\licting heavy losses so that they can cause bigger revenue losses exposed mega smuggling scam of Digicom on the national exchequer. The chief justice to the national exchequer and corrupt cus- Company (Q-Mobile) as the company cleared and the NAB chairman already took suo moto toms of\icers can make even bigger money more than 750 containers through green notices of mega corruption cases in Pakistan out of it. channel. In another case, the company did and even Nawaz Sharif was disquali\ied as •High value goods like mobiles, banned not pay Sales Tax of Rs 772 million on import prime minister in a historic decision an- items and health hazardous goods like betel of total 2,410,560 mobiles. nounced in the Panama Papers case.  32

Renowned lawyer Ismat Mehdi has said that green channel was introduced to facilitate importers and many of them are taking benefits from this channel, but some corrupt elements are misusing this facility and they are using this channel for their own benefits. Talking with Customs Today, she lauded Chief Justice of Pak- istan Justice Saqib Nisar for taking notice of this mega corruption. She said that after the shocking facts this action is appreciable. She said that CJP also ordered an inquiry into the matter. She further said that action against corrupt elements in customs can only be taken if “we have proof of their bribe, or registered FIR against them.” Now it’s Customs officials responsibility to take strict action against those corrupt elements, she added. Ismat Mehdi said few Customs officials have turned a blind eye on clearance of banned and non- certified goods worth billions of rupees through green channel by declaring as scrap. She said that misuse of green channel facility by smugglers has caused huge loss to the national exchequer and genuine importers in the country. Misuse of green channel facility allowed smugglers in the country to launch their smuggled goods in the open markets after getting clearance through green channel. She said importers pay all taxes and levies for the clearance of their shipments but smugglers smoothly get cleared their goods by mis-de-

claration under the grab of other items. This is causing billions of rupees loss to national exchequer.  33

gling as Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian tioned in the report that strong recom- Saqib Nisar took notice of the issue and mendations of placing under suspension Directorate General Customs Intelligence some Customs of\icers/of\icials suspected ame person, who kept on saying & Investigation (I&I) admitted that green to be involved in facilitating the misuse of that customs department is in- channel facility has been mercilessly Green Channel facility repeatedly made nocent in green channel Rs 1000 abused by some syndicates in connivance by the Directorate General have been Sbillion mega scam as the green channel is with a few corrupt customs of\icers. ignored by FBR. Thus, the manipulators responsibility of the automation or soft- Director General Customs I&I Shaukat inside the department do not feel dis- ware department, is allegedly found in- Ali gave full weight to the complaint to couraged enough to refrain from extend- volved in the mega scam. the extent that the green channel facility ing their helping hand to the fraudsters. According to details, \irst of all, DG at the ports has been “excessively mis- In addition to the above, whenever the Customs Intelligence Shaukat Ali gave a used” and recommended urgent action Directorate General detected cases of letter to FBR Chairman Tariq Mahmood to arrest haemorrhage of state revenue. misuse of Green Channel in the recent Pasha admitting that green channel is This complaint was submitted by senior past, collectorates particularly MCC East ‘mercilessly misused’ with the possible investigative journalist Asad Kharal to Karachi, MCC West Karachi, MCC Port connivance of customs staff and action Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and re- Qasim and MCC Appraisement Lahore needed against customs staff. peatedly published in Customs Today have reacted sharply against the action Then, sources exposed that head of newspaper against green channel illegal taken by the Directorate General of customs is also director at the private clearances worth Rs 1000 billion. Customs Intelligence & investigation and limited company that develops and man- In a report submitted to FBR Chair- attempted to protect the fraudsters. ages software for customs. The company man Tariq Mahmood Pasha after Chief Directorate General Customs Intelli- name is Pakistan Revenue Automation Justice Mian Saqib Nisar took notice of gence & Investigation notes that non-ac- Pvt. Ltd. (PRAL). Hence, it was only a the complaint of large-scale misuse of tion on part of FBR and adverse reaction lame excuse of head of Customs that he is green channel facility and ordered FBR of collectorates practically placed hurdles clear in the mega scam and he knows Member Customs, Chief Collector Ap- in the way of the Directorate General Cus- nothing about green channel as it is part praisement South and DG I&I to submit toms Intelligence & Investigation to ef- of automation and not falling under his reply within 10 days, the Directorate Gen- fectively check the misuse of the green domain. But after this shocking revela- eral Customs Intelligence put up total channel facility at ports. tion that the same person is also director blame on the Federal Board of Revenue As per details, Customs Today exten- at the private limited company and he is (FBR) and the Customs Department sively covered and reported since past the boss of the staff who are developing while con\irming ‘merciless’ misuse of few years the misuse of green channel fa- and maintaining green channel software green channel facility with support of a cility and published repeatedly an appeal side, hence he is responsible in the Rs. few customs of\icials. of senior investigative journalist Asad 1000 billion mega scam of green channel After CJP’s notice, FBR advised Direc- Kharal to the Chief Justice Mian Saqib both on operations side of customs as torate General Customs Intelligence to Nisar and the NAB chairman Justice (r) well as automation side of PRAL. He can- submit its report. As per report, Direc- Javed Iqbal to take notice of Rs 1000 bil- not run away like this from taking re- torate General Customs Intelligence & In- lion green channel illegal clearances. The sponsibility. vestigation (I&I) placed on record that Chief Justice took notice of the complaint, Sources further revealed that customs Green Channel facility has been ‘callously’ as Asad Kharal appeared before the court department has not hired any other com- abused by some syndicates of unscrupu- and submitted the complaint regarding pany to handle the security of the green lous fraudsters and the possibility of con- green channel smuggling, and ordered channel system which is exclusively with nivance of few customs of\icers cannot be the FBR Member Customs Zahid Khokhar, PRAL. In such situation where head of ruled out. The above comment emanates Chief Collector Appraisement South Customs and director of PRAL both is the from the Directorate General’s experience Abdul Rasheed Sheikh and DG Intelli- same person then how is the security of of detection of Green Channel related gence Shaukat Ali to submit reply within green channel system safe? cases and adverse reaction of some of\i- 10 days. The court associate also sent the Customs Today succeeded to prove its cers/of\icials in Customs hierarchy. notice copy to the Chairman NAB for reports regarding green channel smug- The Directorate General also men- notice and necessary action.  34

The Collectorate of Customs Adjudication-I has served show cause notice to M/s Pakistan Mobile Communication Limited (Mobilink) for its alleged involvement in mis-declaration and huge evasion of customs duty and other taxes. The company evaded about Rs 6.99 million in share of customs duty, sales tax, additional sales tax, regulatory duty and withholding tax. According to details, the Model Customs Collectorate of Port Muhammad Bin Qasim on a credible tip intercepted an imported consignment of M/s Pakistan Mobile Communication Limited cleared through Green Channel vide GD No.KPPI-HC-1778 on 8 July, 2014 and during examination found that the importer was attempted to clear goods by mis-declaration through Green Channel and evaded legitimate duties with the connivance of its clearing agent M/s SAS- PAK Cargo (Pvt) Limited. Later, during the course of examination it was ascertained that the imported goods were DC Cabinet Air Conditioner DC 48 Volt designed for the telecom and other industrial equipment cooling application which were specifically classifiable under PCT heading 8415.8200 chargeable to customs duty @25 per cent, regulatory duty @5per cent besides other taxes, whereas importer tried to clear under the vague description that Cellular Infrastructure Equipment (HW) for telecom sector consisting of outdoor power cabinet (EAB-PSC23MES) 50 pieces and sought release under PCT Heading 8517.7000 attracting CD @10 per cent, ST @3 per cent and WHT @5.5 per cent. According to the MCC Port Muhammad Bin Qasim, the total declared value is US$ 1, 38,595 CFR equivalents to Pakistani Rs 13.8 million and the importer paid total duty and taxes Rs5.55 million. Subsequently, the Collectorate of Customs Adjudication-I has issued hearing notice to M/s Pakistan Mobile Communication Limited. It is pertinent to mention here that the M/s Pakistan Mobile Communication Limited has already requested to the Collector of Customs Adjudication for joint examination of the imported consignments in the presence of their company representatives.  35 36

goods. It is regrettable that a few corrupt Presently, some mechanisms and poli- customs of\icials are involved in un- cies are consistent and compatible with scrupulous activities at Port Qasim and customs supervision which gave opportu- few corrupt of\icials in the cus- they are allowing smugglers to throw their nity to corrupt of\icials to misuse green toms department are big hurdle smuggled goods in the markets after get- channel. Abuse of green channel facility in execution of appropriate cus- ting clearance through green channel. discourages genuine importers in the tomsA to prevent smuggling through He added that customs department country as they are unable to compete green channel. Customs authorities should should ful\ill their appropriate procedure price difference in the market, he added. adopt effective measures by following for green channel declarations in clear- He said that we should amend proce- standard rules and principles to avoid mis- ance procedure. Customs laws are com- dure for the classi\ication channels to pro- use of green Channel. prehensive to prevent any sort of smug- tect violation and ensure strict customs These views were expressed by gling and it is need of the hour to meet inspection and control process. Customs renowned lawyer Malik Tariq Saeed dur- basic requirements of the inspection in department needs to specify new methods ing his exclusive interview with Customs order to detect violations of green channel for information sharing, providing and up- Today. He said that green channel facility facility in the clearance. dating the system to prevent violations of was introduced for genuine importers and He said risk management department green channel. exporters for smooth clearance of their of customs should bring reforms in their He recommended that customs of\icers shipments without any trouble but it has systems by adopting modern techniques in charge of risk management do not have been revealed that smugglers are abusing for examination if they feel that existing suf\icient information to realize methods green channel facility due to weak en- laws are insuf\icient to prevent smuggling. and tricks of smugglers for preparing forcement of customs department and a Customs of\icials have been found in- plans in developing criteria of channel few corrupt of\icials have also allowed volved in misuse of green channel facility classi\ication for inspection. Customs staff smugglers to adopt green channel for most of the time as they give opportunity should be given capacity building training clearance of contraband items and other to smugglers for the sake of bribe. to overcome abuse of green channel.  37

many big smugglers and ma\ias in- volving in smuggling of mobile phones, medicines and other valu- ables worth billions of rupees.” When asked about the Dost Muhammad network, he said, he has never spared anyone involved in corruption and initiated the investi- gation against them. He said, “If com- plaint against any of\icial is sent to me, I properly investigate the matter and if the of\icial is found involved, he is punished.” When asked if he has de- veloped any system that can make Pakistan Customs a shining star, he said that the customs has the poten- tial and the department is led by rea- pecial Assistant to Prime Minister sonable people. He further said that on Revenue/Minister of State Ha- securing the business environment roon Akhtar Khan said that upon involves the streamlining of Customs gettingS information about smuggling procedures, enhancing integrity, fa- through green channel, the wrong doers cilitating the movement of goods, con- are put on red channel and they have to go veyances and people, and combating through strict checking for years to re- cross-border crime to prevent the gain their credibility. shipment of illicit goods that endan- He expressed these views while an- ger people’s health, safety and secu- swering to Customs Today about the mis- rity. It is pertinent to mention here use of green channel and involvement of that reports about mega scams of the customs of\icials, appraising of\icers green channel, yellow channel, TP and and principal appraisers especially Dost bonded warehouse recently covered Muhammad and his aides on the side by Customs Today where Principal lines of a get-together at the Customs Appraiser Dost Muhammad is illegally House Lahore. posted at R&D, Karachi East Collec- Chief Collector Customs Central Zeba torate and he is facilitating and pro- Hai Azhar, Director General Internal Audit tecting the smugglers. All the data of Sarfraz Ahmed Warraich, Director Gen- illegal smuggling is available with eral Training Mukarram Jah and Collector Dost on R&D system where he can Model Collectorate Customs (Preventive) easily stop the smuggling. Lahore Faiz Ahmad shared the stage with In fact, concrete evidence has sur- him on this special occasion. Haroon faced where 600,000kgs betel nuts Akhtar said that zero-tolerance about cor- valuing more than Rs 1.5 billion un\it for ruption has been adopted human consumption were seized by Di- by the customs and if any rectorate of Intelligence in a raid at a of\icials are found involved Karachi warehouse. FIR C.No. M- in corrupt practices they 2430/DCI/Seize/2018 was lodged and are dealt with iron hands. the accused have submitted copies of He said those of\icials, GD admitting their clearances from who found involved, are Karachi east collectorate which data al- suspended and they face ready existed with Dost’s R&D division. services tribunals and other Similarly, removal of bonded goods forums; however, if they are were caught red handed and FIR No found guilty they are dis- 09/2018-R&D-East lodged where again missed and if they are the data was already available with found innocent, they are al- Dost’s R&D division. An entire series of lowed to join their jobs. He mega scams and comprehensive evi- said, “During the last three dences of its data already available with years, we have busted so Dost have been unearthed.  38

nuts through green channel. around $1.5 million was foiled at under a plan, was keeping entire “More such raids and con\is- Port Qasim. The acetic anhydride, staff & place busy with futile re- few customs of\icials at cation of betel nuts’ consign- a main ingredient for preparing examinations and re-assess- Port Qasim have ments will be conducted in com- narcotics substance as well as ments of genuine importers so turned a blind eye on ing days,” he said. making highly dangerous explo- that his accomplices from the clearanceA of banned and non-cer- It is worth mentioning that sives by the terrorist out\its was green channel smugglers get a ti\ied goods worth billions of ru- 188 containers of betel nuts are shipped from Poland for a fake good chance to smuggle goods pees through green channel by stuck up at ports. Since legal im- Peshawar-based importer M/s without examination in green declaring as scrap. port is stopped, goods are being Pak Traders. channel. This is giving rise to huge Customs Today has been smuggled. The importer namely Sources said that these con- smuggling through green chan- reporting on misuse of green M/s Jebel Ali dumped the con- signments were imported on fake nel. Genuine importers who are channel by a few senior cus- tainers in Korangi area where the names, IDs and addresses so it losing their competition in the toms of\icials. Our information raid took place. could only be done with the help market due to presence of goods proved true when 6 containers Customs Appraisement South of customs of\icials at Port Qasim smuggled through green channel of betel nuts were caught by comprising Appraisement East, who were clearing these goods have appealed to Member Customs Preventive on Febru- MCC Appraisement West and through green channel and sup- Customs Zahid Khokhar to take ary 21 in a raid at a godown in MCC Port Qasim have put all con- porting these unknown smug- prompt action to stop misuse of Korangi Industrial Area and signments coming from Jebel Ali glers of green channel. the facility at Port Qasim.  these containers were actually on red channel after the con\isca- Sources revealed the facility of smuggled from Port Qasim tion in Korangi, a customs of\icial green channel is still being mis- green channel as scrap. revealed. In the meantime, the used at MCC-Appraisement Port Qamar Thallo, spokesperson customs of\icials involved in the Qasim as 200 to 300 containers of of Customs Preventive, told Cus- scam of clearing the consign- Iron-Steel scrap are being cleared toms Today that ambit of investi- ments become more active to through green channel despite gations has been widened due to save their skin including ADC the fact that these items are not possibility that smugglers might Yasin Murtaza and others. allowed to be cleared through have cleared hundreds of other It is pertinent to mention that green channel, causing loss to ex- such containers through green on 2nd February, a smuggling bid chequer worth billions. channel. Above importer got of 15,520 liters of dual use pre- Customs Today had reported cleared 14 containers of betel cursor acetic anhydride worth earlier that ADC Yasin Murtaza, 3539

containers of betel nuts cleared under were stopped. The drivers presented the HS Code 7204.4100 through green chan- documents of 14 containers, including few customs of\icials at Port nel. Suspects namely Muhammad Shoaib these two containers, which were cleared Qasim have been providing ‘hid- Arshad, owner of M/s City Steel UAE from MCC Port Qasim. During the search, den support’ to smugglers to Mills (Private) Limited, Muhammad Ar- the customs of\icials recovered 80,025 blindlyA misuse the facility of green chan- shad, owner of M/s A.F Enterprises, kilogram betel nuts worth Rs 200 mil- nel at Port Qasim for ful\illing their vested Muhammad Tariq, Sohrab Khan, Amjad lion. Sources claim it was established be- interests. Khan and others booked in a betel nuts yond doubt that the suspects were in- They are allowing unchecked clearance smuggling case which they had imported volved in smuggling of the contraband of banned and non-certi\ied goods worth in the garb of waste and cast iron scrap. betel nuts under the garb of waste and billions of rupees through green channel According to the FIR No ASO-58/2018 scrap of iron. They got the betel nuts by declaring as scrap, allege sources. lodged on 21 February, an ASO team cleared under HS Code 7204.4100. Hence Sources say Customs Preventive found two containers near Shan they have, individually and collectively, raided different godowns and seized 6 Chowrangi, Korani Road, Karachi, which violated the customs laws. See next page 40

another godown (and not the same godown as this is shown as Pvt. Ltd. company and in any Pvt. which was raided by Preventive). The owner of Ltd. company there can never be a designation of ources say a few Customs of\icials at Port godown was different. It says that not a single 'Proprietor'. Qasim involved in clearance of restricted container was there but only small pieces of Sources allege, obviously, this is a way used by goods through green channel started sep- betel nuts. This weakened the FIR due to weak ev- Customs Port Qasim to protect the main accused Sarate investigation of the issue and lodged another idences. Source say as second FIR could replace who is the bene\iciary of the green channel FIR no SI/MISC/03/2018/PQ-CIU on 21 Feb in the rather contradicting \irst FIR of preventive which facility. Such people are apparently actual part- case to save the skin of the customs of\icials in- was a very strong FIR with red handed seizure of ners of these corrupt of\icials like ADC Yasin volved especially ADC Yasin Murtaza. As per FIR, 6 containers on spot. Now the accused will be Murtaza and hence so much of play is on record Customs team raided a godown belonging to Imran taken in custody by Port Qasim itself instead of to save the main culprits. Ameen where containers of betel nuts were off- Preventive and can be released on bail. Sources claim the website www.citys- loaded but during the raid, they could not \ind any- Sources claim the main culprits i.e. customs staff teeluae.com of this green channel company, which thing there. Sources say FIR of Port Qasim lodged have become the investigators of the case. They say is caught involved in smuggling, indicates that it is on the same smuggled goods that Preventive had in FIR that they lodged FIR on 21st Feb. while they not a well established professional company. It already caught and registered FIR. The 6 contain- say that the occurrence was of 22nd Feb. They are does not even have a proper website which is ers containing GD number KPPI- HC – 62268 is caught red handed with their manipulation. supposed to be face of a professional company. It same as already caught by Preventive. How can an FIR be lodged even before the oc- is beyond imagination how such a company got Sources say this second FIR for the same instance currence has taken place? It is like lodging of a da- registered in green channel. at the behest of ADC Yasin Murtaza of Port Qasim coity FIR even one day before the dacoity occur- Sources reveal, in the FIR of Port Qasim against is an attempt to weaken the \irst FIR of preventive rence. Such FIR is possible only by the person who this company, it states that proprietor of this com- and an open attempt to keep the accused away is himself the dacoit and has information even be- pany is absconder. FIR was lodged in urgency and from Preventive so that the accused do not give fore the dacoity takes place. Sources claim, in fact, date of FIR was given even before the date of oc- away the names of gang of green channel. This sec- Port Qasim FIR hides the name of the main ac- currence. This means Port Qasim has created an ex- ond FIR is an attempt by Port Qasim to jump into cused person. Whereas it is basic criteria in any FIR cuse at the time of lodging of FIR itself that they will the investigations of the case and tamper evidences under law that 'name' of accused should be given. not arrest this main accused of green channel listed and in\luence witnesses. Earlier Preventive FIR gave a name of the owner as company because he is already an absconder! If the Sources allege a very weak second FIR is 'Mr. Mohammad Shoaib Arshad'. But later FIR of court asks them why the main accused is not ar- lodged by Port Qasim to save their accomplices Port Qasim for the same occurrence drops the rested then they will say that he was already an ab- from Customs preventive. This FIR says that name of the person and gives only a designation of sconder even before lodging of the FIR and hence an driver was contacted for information which led to person as 'Proprietor'. This designation is also fake excuse created from the time of lodging of FIR itself. Source say when a person who is already an absconder even before lodging of the FIR then how did he get registered with green channel? It is obvious that only those companies could be registered with green channel which are established organisations and when any issue in goods is identi\ied then those should be traceable and answerable. Now the green channel listed company owner has vanished in thin air being an absconder even from before the FIR is lodged!! Legal importers have de- manded that NAB and FIA take up such green channel smuggling cases of ADC Yasin Mur- taza, Port Qasim so that such customs of\icials who are the true protectors and bene\iciaries are caught once and for all. 41

ollowing is a letter sent by a genuine importer to collector “Over and above other personal favours that he (ADC) is ask- of Customs, Port Qasim Mr. Chaudhry Javed. This is very rel- ing from us, he is also asking us to give a false declaration under evant and interesting. duress that he is not involved in green channel smuggling and that FImporter said, “ADC Yasin Murtaza is still carrying out his ille- no such smuggling is happening at Port Qasim. He wants to put gal activities blatantly despite our reminders to you. For his per- genuine importers like us under pressure to give such false sonal motives agenda vendetta he is harassing genuine importers declarations so as to defeat the process of law,” he added. like us.” [GD NO. KPPI-HC 62811-19-02-2018] The Importer elaborated, “The complaint/ information was He said, “It is an established law that weight of essential packing shared basically by genuine importers with media and senior of- should be given as tare weight and not counted in value of product.” ficials on 13th Feb 2018. Based on this information, media in- Refer to letters of DG customs Valuation and also of Muhammad Za- vestigations started into this mega scam of ADC Yasin Murtaza hid, Present member, Customs as given below. The letters also give in green channel smuggling which is causing losses of billions of references of high court judgments on the same lines. rupees to national exchequer. Also this green channel smug- He said, “It is categorically mentioned in these documents the gling by ADC Yasin Murtaza is causing losses to the genuine im- weight of essential packing should be given as tare weight and not porters. Such genuine importers are not able to sell their goods added in value of the product. Despite this settled law, ADC Yasin in Pakistan markets after paying duties and taxes because their Murtaza is pressuring his juniors not to give essential packing prices are higher. While the green channel smugglers who are as- weight as tare weight. He has clearly mentioned that unless we do sociates of ADC Yasin Murtaza are able to sell their goods and not ful\ill his personal demands and give him personal favours, he capture local markets as their goods are lower priced because will not give us this basic right under the law. He has even con- they do not pay any duties and taxes to the government ex- veyed to us to go to the Supreme Court and get the orders of the chequer rather apparently only pay a share of profits to ADC honorable court implemented but he will not implement them.” Yasin Murtaza and his gang of smugglers.” “He (ADC) knows that going to the honorable Supreme Court The importer said, “One of the illegal motives of ADC Yasin will involve time and we cannot keep goods at the port for such Murtaza in not granting the genuine importers their basic rights a long time because the goods get spoiled and stolen when they is that he wants the casting of genuinely imported products to go are kept at Port Qasim for a span of few days. The customs staff higher so that they cannot be sold in local markets. This will give spoils and steals goods at Port Qasim when any genuine importer advantage to his associate green channel smugglers to sell their keeps the goods at the port and goes for legal remedies to the smuggled goods and capture the local markets.” Urgent actions re- courts,” he added. quired to save our souls, he concluded.  42

country putting health of the citizens on risk. item which requires certi\ication by Plant Sources said hazardous and low quality be- Protection Agency (PPA) for clearance. How- ustoms Today unearthed the scam of tel nuts were being imported from India, Nepal ever, the network of Additional collector Yasin misuse of green channel facility in and other countries with the help of appraise- Murtaza at Port Qasim, instead of enforcing which a few senior customs of\icials ment and examination staff at Port Qasim in vi- PPA certi\icate requirement in true spirit, is areC clearing a large number of containers olation of the import policy. clearing the consignments of betel nuts loaded with infested betel nuts through green Sources claimed approximately 7 to 9 con- through green channel declaring as scrap. channel at Port Qasim. tainers have been cleared through Appraise- Meanwhile, the facility of green channel is After so much coverage by Customs To- ment East and Appraisement West on daily ba- being misused at MCC-Appraisement Port day, Customs Preventive and Intelligence sis for last few years and a few customs Qasim under protection of a few senior launched raids on green channel ‘smugglers’ of\icials have been getting Rs 20,000-45,000 customs of\icials including ADC Yasin Murtaza and seized 6 containers of betel buts on 21 ‘speed money’ for clearance of each container. as 200 to 300 containers of Iron-Steel scrap are February from a godown in Korangi Indus- It is pertinent to mention these low qual- being cleared through green channel despite trial Area which were cleared through green ity betel nuts have been used to prepare haz- the fact that these items are not allowed to be channel under the protection of a few senior ardous “Paan Masala”, “Main Puri” and cleared through green channel, causing loss to customs of\icers at Port Qasim. “Gutka” causing cancer in the users. exchequer worth billions. Fourteen containers were cleared through Sources said that plain ‘chalia’ in any It is surprising why FBR and Customs high- green channel of this company from Port form is injurious to heath. It is proved that ups are not taking action against ‘corrupt’ Qasim while only six have been con\iscated juices of even good quality ‘chalia’ is car- customs of\icials despite complete proof and yet. At least 188 containers of betel nuts are cinogen when mixed with other hazardous timely information. stuck up at ports. items like arti\icial colour, hemical, etc., and Different chambers of commerce and im- Customs staff did not implement the import it increases the chance to cause dangerous porters associations have appealed to the FBR policy in its true spirit as directed by Member diseases like oral cancer (mostly tongue, chairman Tariq Pasha and Member Customs Customs Zahid Khokhar and allowed misuse cheek and lips), mouth ulcer, maggots in Zahid Khokhar to thoroughly investigate the of green channel facility through which im- mouth, submucous \ibrosis, etc. misuse of green channel facility at larger scale porters ‘smuggled’ infested betel nuts in the According to sources, betel nut is an edible and bring the culprits to justice.  43

DURING INSPECTION, CONSIGNMENT OF BETEL NUTS FOUND CONTAMINATED WITH HAZARDOUS MOULDS 44

FIR LODGED AGAINST ACCUSED FOR CLEARING BANNED BETEL NUTS 45

ederal Board of Revenue (FBR) is preparing the \irst draft of 100% scanning project for imported goods specially from India, Afghanistan and Iran. Each and every container will be scanned under this project, it is learnt here. Sources told Customs Today that special scanners will be installed on all border crossings, seaports and customs clearing stations. FSources told that around 250 million Euros will be spent on this project, however, the project is being delayed till formation of new government. Meanwhile the PC-1 is being drafted and needed to be approved from the prime minister. Sources added that FBR will present the draft to prime minister thereafter the Pilot Project will be implemented. Sources further added that with the help of this project, the issues of mis-declaration of goods, the malfunctioning in Afghan Transit Trade and violation and misuse of Green Channel can be resolved. Moreover, 40% of imported goods are cleared on Green and Yellow Channel, however, the misuse of these channels are recently unearthed by Customs Today which caused a serious threat to national security and exchequer. Customs Today extensively covered mis- use of green channel smuggling which in\licted a loss of Rs 1000 billion on the national exchequer. Meanwhile, In a bid to secure the robust revenue collection target for the \iscal year 2018-19, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is going to recruit almost 3000 to 4000 human resource from grade 1 to 16. Presently, the FBR and sub departments face huge human resource shortfall; one person is assisting almost three of\icers as supporting staff and this state of affairs hinders the departments from showcasing glowing performance regarding revenue collection. In April this year, the Election Commission of Pakistan had imposed ban on the recruitment of new staff by various departments of the government which now has been lifted. Sources at FBR told Customs Today that serious considerations for starting the recruitment process were underway at different quarters. In this regard, wings and departments including Customs, Inland Revenue and others have been given full liberty to initiate and complete the process in a fair and transparent manner. “The preliminary phases of recruitment process like inviting applications from the candi- dates, their eligibility tests and others have already been completed last year. In this regard, a third party was hired to evaluate the capacity of the candidates in a bid to ensure transparency and rule of merit; even candidates for the slots of drivers were also given tests through Motorway Po- lice. The \indings of the tests were also shared with the concerned authorities” the source maintained. The source said that concerned authorities were concerned over the possible impression of making recruitments on the recommendations of the previous government; therefore, they were making full efforts to ensure transparency in the recruitment of the staff and of\icers. In this regard, the source said that senior of\icers were will- ing to ensure fairness in the recruitments to dispel the above mentioned impression. The source further said that the government should support the FBR in this process and all the state organs like ECP and Supreme Court should think a lot before imposing any ban on the recruitments by other state departments because lack of human resource badly affect the performance of those wings or departments. Meanwhile, Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Tariq Mahmood Pasha visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry and urged upon the business community to take full ad- vantage of tax amnesty scheme as it was a last chance to legalize undeclared assets. He said that the amnesty scheme was focused on business commu- nity as public of\ice holders and their dependents were kept out of it, therefore, they should take maximum bene\it from it.  46

country through green channel but fi- the valuation rulings, PCT codes with the nally FBR admitted that millions of con- goods cleared in green channel. ustoms Today covered the green tainers have been cleared in Green Chan- But the comparison was done with the channel scam since past many nel without any examination. In fact, not declarations made of those goods in green years. The Chief Justice of Pakistan even scanning of these containers is done channel and not of the actual goods present CMian Saqib Nisar took notice of the scam by customs. in the container. The entire scam of green and the court associate sent a letter to the Sources said when the CJP took notice channel is that the goods declared are to- Chairman NAB for necessary action. and the then FBR Chairman Tariq Pasha tally different from goods present in the con- A customs high of\icial was denying his was asked to submit a reply on green chan- tainer. Like QMobile had mobiles in the con- role in the mega scam saying that it is the is- nel issue, he asked the three accused in the tainer and they declared LED lights. They in sue of software automation so he is not in- case to submit details. Although, it is not fact even admitted this when they were volved in the scam. But later CT team found allowed anywhere in the world that the ac- caught. The problem was not of PCT code or that he is also director at Pakistan Revenue cused are made investigators of the case valuation of LED. Automation (Pvt) Limited called PRAL which but this happened here due to the powerful Sources said, in the audit, the customs develops and controls the green channel re- ma\ia of green channel. staff under instructions of customs high of- lated software and system. It was also found But DG customs candidly admitted that \icials instead of checking what the real that another high of\icial is the mastermind the green channel is ‘mercilessly misused’ goods were inside the millions of contain- behind the green channel design and system and involvement of Customs of\icers cannot ers, they just checked, like in this case, if due to his role in the committee of Risk Man- be ruled out. Whereas, on the other hand, PCT and value of LED lights were applied agement System (RMS). This committee de- customs high of\icial, under a scheme to on these goods and gave a clean chit to such signed the green channel policies under the manipulate the entire investigations, asked clearances! Whereas the goods were mo- instructions of this top of\icial and now too the very high of\icial to conduct an audit biles and PCT and value of LED lights were the committee is managed by of\icials who who is already an accused in the case. This applied and zero duties were applied in- are working under him. audit was itself a fraud merely to save the stead of the high duty of mobile. Similarly, Sources said mobiles, electronics, corrupt culprits. they checked PCT code and value of Iron liquor, cigarettes, betel nuts, explosive Sources said, in the audit, the accused cus- scrap whether applied but the goods were chemicals, etc continues to pour into toms high of\icial made his juniors compare cigarettes or betel nuts or liquor. 47

After this audit of PCT code and values properly because they do not have risk channel should be tracked as to where and they gave clean chit to even such hazardous of losing revenue. Mostly exports enjoy how they have been used in Pakistan. materials like chemicals or contraband tax free regime. Where those thousands of containers are items like liquor, etc. in the garb of the 3. The information provided by export- actually cigarettes, liquor, electronics, dan- fraudulent audit. After such audit, the cus- ing countries are mostly not admissible as gerous chemicals then how will the green toms high of\icials involved in the scam evidence in Pakistan. Hence, legal action channel smuggler be able to prove his sales want to give a clean chit to themselves. and recovery would become dif\icult. of scrap? This second method of forward Based on this fraudulent audit, some of the Hence, the above mentioned back- tracking is very effective and also incrimi- customs of\icials want to mislead and mis- ward method will be effective only 10% nating evidence can be collected against guide the Honourable Chief Justice of Pak- if customs department puts its efforts those who are clearing contraband goods istan and also the Chairman NAB under appropriately in this direction. Even under green channel. whose notice already this case of green 10% effectiveness is worth doing as the This ways by tracking the goods back- channel mega scam is pending. amounts involved in the green channel ward and forward then proper audit of The actual audit should be to \ind out scandal is really huge. green channel clearances is possible and what exactly was there in the more than 10 But the second method which is the for- not by arti\icially comparing the PCT code Million containers released without proper ward method, will be very effective. Cus- and valuations with the goods declared. scanning and examination. Customs staff toms should trace the goods released un- Also, since there are millions of should start tracing the declared goods der green channel in a forward manner as containers to be audited hence \irst a pri- backwards and also forward. To check to where have the goods gone. Like around ority list of audit should be made. In this list backwards, they should check with the re- 750 containers of LED lights cleared in those goods should be included that have spective exporters and exporting countries green channel to be checked where they been imported in green channel through whether they have exported the same have gone in Pakistan in the supply chain switch B/L. Secondly, those goods should goods that were declared in green channel from importer to whole seller to retailer. be included that have zero or up to 5% at import stage in Pakistan? If goods ex- The goods brought by green channel are in duty tariff. Those who are clearing contra- ported were mobiles and the same im- Pakistan only and not re-exported hence band items or high value items in green ported in green channel at Pakistan was we can track those goods easily on paper channel without screening or examination LED lights then it would be clear that fraud \irstly and then physically at the end loca- are declaring them in very low or zero has taken place. But in backward checking tion. If the importer says he cleared 750 tariff. Also, scrap consignments should be there are some hurdles that customs de- containers of LED lights then he must have on priority list of audit. partment will have to overcome: documents to show sale of the same to the Genuine importers once again 1. Exporters side with the importers wholesaler or retailer. The wholesalers and appealed to the CJP and the Chairman rather than FBR and hence they may not retailers can be asked to con\irm whether NAB to take notice of the second fraud co-operate with FBR authorities. they have bought these LED lights or they of audit within the mega scam of green 2. Many exporting countries’ customs have bought Mobiles. Those thousands of channel. A fraud to cover up their authorities do not examine the goods iron scrap containers imported in green previous frauds with the nation!!  48 49

garb of waste and scrap of iron. They got the betel nuts cleared under HS Code few customs of\icials at Port 7204.4100. Hence they have, individually Qasim have turned a blind eye and collectively, violated the customs laws. on clearance of banned and Sources said huge scam of green chan- Anon-certi\ied goods worth billions of ru- nel smuggling could not be carried out pees through green channel by declar- without the help of the customs of\icials ing as scrap. so their names should also be mentioned Customs Today reported extensively in the FIR report. on misuse of green channel facility and A few Customs of\icials at Port Qasim unearthed the scam in which a number involved in clearance of restricted goods of containers of betul nuts, acetic anhy- through green channel made a plan to dride and iron-steel were being cleared save themselves from this scam. For this through green channel. purpose they started separate investiga- After so much coverage by Customs tion of the issue and lodged another FIR Today, Customs Preventive and Intelli- no SI/MISC/03/2018/PQ-CIU on 21 Feb gence launched raids on green channel in the case to save the skin of the customs ‘smugglers’ and seized a number of con- of\icials involved especially ADC Yasin tainers cleared through green channel Murtaza. As per FIR, Customs team which shows to what extent this green raided a godown belonging to Imran channel smuggling is being carried out Ameen where containers of betel nuts with the support of a few senior customs were off-loaded but during the raid, they of\icers at Port Qasim. could not \ind anything there. Customs Today reported on 14 Feb- FIR of Port Qasim lodged on the same ruary about another scam of clearance of smuggled goods that Preventive had al- illegal/banned goods by declaring as ready caught and registered FIR. The 6 scrap through green channel, Customs containers containing GD number KPPI- Intelligence raided a godown on 16 Feb- HC – 62268 is same as already caught by ruary and seized containers of steel and Preventive. This second FIR for the same iron scrap. instance at the behest of ADC Yasin Mur- Customs Preventive raided different taza of Port Qasim is an attempt to godowns and seized 6 containers of betel weaken the \irst FIR of preventive and an nuts cleared under HS Code 7204.4100 open attempt to keep the accused away through green channel. Suspects namely from Preventive so that the accused do Muhammad Shoaib Arshad, owner of not give away the names of gang of green M/s City Steel UAE Mills (Private) Lim- channel. This second FIR is an attempt by ited, Muhammad Arshad, owner of M/s Port Qasim to jump into the investiga- A.F Enterprises, Muhammad Tariq, tions of the case and tamper evidences Sohrab Khan, Amjad Khan and others and in\luence witnesses. booked in a betel nuts smuggling case Customs Today had reported earlier which they had imported in the garb of that ADC Yasin Murtaza, under a plan, waste and cast iron scrap. was keeping entire staff & place busy According to the FIR No ASO-58/2018 with futile re-examinations and re-as- lodged on 21 February, an ASO team sessments of genuine importers so that found two containers near Shan his accomplices from the green channel Chowrangi, Korani Road, Karachi, which smugglers get a good chance to smuggle were stopped. The drivers presented the goods without examination in green documents of 14 containers, including channel. This is giving rise to huge smug- these two containers, which were cleared gling through green channel. from MCC Port Qasim. During the search, Legal importers have demanded that the customs of\icials recovered 80,025 NAB and FIA take up such green channel kilogram betel nuts worth Rs 200 million. smuggling cases of ADC Yasin Murtaza, It was established beyond doubt that Port Qasim so that such customs of\icials the suspects were involved in smuggling who are the true protectors and bene\i- of the contraband betel nuts under the ciaries are caught once and for all.  50

FIRST FIR ASOH58/2018 LODGED AFTER CUSTOMS PREVENTIVE SEIZED 6 CONTAINERS IN DIFFERENT RAIDS ON FEB 21 51 52 53 54 55

SECOND FIR SI/MISC/03/2018/PQHCIU LODGED ON SAME DATE BY ADC PORT QASIM TO MANIPULATE THE FIRST FIR ASOH58/2018. WITNESS IN FIRST FIR MR IMRAN AMEEN MADE ACCUSED AND ARRESTED IN THE SECOND FIR TO INFLUENCE THE FIRST FIR INVESTIGATIONS AND SAVE THE REAL CULPRITS. THIS FIR DECLARES THE TEAM FOUND NO CONTAINERS OF BETEL NUTS IN THE GODOWN 56 57 58

CUSTOMS I&I SEIZES BIGGEST CONSIGNMENT CONTAINING 612033KGS OF SMUGGLED BETEL NUTS OF POOR QUALITY, INFESTED AND UNFIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION 59

he accused Customs of\icials who were acquitted by the court in ISAF/NATO containers mega scam are alleged to be stillT indulged in same practice of clearing the con- tainers through TP, opening up seals of those con- tainers enroute to Lahore or other ports of the country and replacing the smuggled goods with other items. These accused were acquitted as customs prosecution willfully weakened the case by not producing evidence/witnesses against the accused before the court. Genuine importers have instruction of the probe committee, the evi- made earlier by the FTO. asked the NAB to launch investigation against dence of complainant is of totally no use for the In his report on Jan 19, 2011, Dr Shoaib Sud- Customs staff including Noor Akbar Mahar, ac- prosecution as the witness has himself no dle, the then FTO, had put the recoverable cused in the ISAF/NATO missing containers case, knowledge of the crime allegedly committed amount at Rs54.73 billion accumulated over the in a similar TP mega smuggling scam. by the accused persons.” past four years owing to pilferage of containers According to details, the court announced judg- It is signi\icant to note that only NLC was re- that entered the country in the garb of Afghan ment of case no 72/2011 against suspects namely sponsible to transport the consignments to Transit Trade (ATT). The FTO had also recom- Noor Akbar Mahar, son of Ghulam Akbar Khan; Afghanistan but from the record it appears that mended in his report to give exemplary punish- Syed Arshad Ali, son of Syed Shamshad Ali; they failed to perform their duty and no investi- ments to the accused customs of\icials. Now all Mehfooz Ali Khan, son of Masood Ali Khan; Sardar gation was conducted from the NLC of\icials who those accused customs of\icials including Noor Amin Farooqui, son of Jalil Ahmed; Munir Ahmed were responsible for transportation of the con- Akbar Mahar are acquitted by the court and they Brohi, son of Hassan Khan; A. Aziz Umrani, son of signments to Afghanistan. are still providing a helping hand to the smug- Muhammad Mithal; Muhammad Abbas Khan, son Even the drivers of the vehicles engaged in glers of banned items. These of\icials are clearing of Noor Ahmed Khan; Fareh Shoukat, son of transportation who played key role in the alleged those containers through TP and replacing the Shaukat Ahmed; Shoukat Hussain, son of Muham- crime were not nominated as an accused in this smuggled goods enroute to other cities. mad Hussain; Muhammad Yasin, son of Gulab case either by the probe committee or by the Customs Today has received a video in which Khan; Shahid Rauf, son of Muhammad Yaseen complainant, investigation of\icer even failed to it can clearly be seen that a person was opening Khan; Saeed Babar, son of Faqee Muhammad and collect the import documents particularly GD up the seal of a container which was cleared Muhammad Irfan, son of Ha\iz Abdul Majeed. which could show the consignments was im- through TP from Karachi ports and meant to be According to the verdict, during the investi- ported by Afghan Importers, in absence of the GD delivered to other cities. Then the same person gation of the ISAF/NATO containers scam con- the charge cannot be proved against any of the ac- skillfully re-sealed the container using the same ducted by the probe committee of FBR, pur- cused who are customs of\icials/staff and clear- seal that was removed by him. This tactic was only suant to the directions of the Supreme Court, ing agents, there is absolutely no evidence against being used in Pakistan as there was no chance of initial investigations were conducted which the accused persons present in court, therefore, re-using the same seal in other countries. This also transpired that Afghan Transit Trade consign- prosecution miserably failed to prove its case shows that this is not a single case of TP smuggling ments were got cleared by clearing agents as against them”. In view of these \indings and after but it is a pre-planned tactic being used by smug- per noti\ied procedure, the consignments were evaluation of the summary evidence adduced by glers in connivance with customs staff. cleared from MCC Appraisement. During the the prosecution, the court concluded it had been Customs Today extensively raised the issues of investigation, it revealed that all consignments established beyond any reasonable doubt that misuse of green channel, yellow channel and TP were \irst cleared in the garb of Afghan Transit the prosecution had miserably failed to prove its facilities and Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar re- Trade and then were smuggled and disposed of case against the accused, who were accordingly cently took notice of green channel smuggling inside Pakistan, causing colossal loss of revenue acquitted of the charge. It is pertinent to mention and ordered the relevant authorities to submit re- to the state exchequer, it added. here that the then Chief Justice Iftikhar Muham- ply within 10 days. The court further observed that “from evi- mad Chaudhry had taken up the case relating to Genuine importers who are suffering huge dence brought on record it is clear that com- import of contraband items under the garb of losses at hands of these corrupt of\icials includ- plainant had no personal knowledge about food supplies meant for the International Security ing Noor Akbar Mahar appealed to the Supreme commission of the offense by the accused per- Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan and or- Court and the NAB to take prompt action against sons nominated in this case and he simply dered the FBR chairman and the Federal Tax Om- these culprits of ATT mega scam who are still ‘in- signed the draft copy of FIR received from probe budsman to submit comprehensive reports on volved’ in smuggling of banned items through committee FBR, of\ice and lodged the FIR on the the steps taken to implement recommendations green channel and TP.  60 61

possibility that smugglers might when Customs Appraisement Port have cleared many other containers Qasim seized 15,520 liters of dual through green channel. use precursor acetic anhydride, few senior customs of\i- It is worth mentioning that 188 which was being cleared through cials are involved in un- containers of betel nuts are stuck up green channel. Acetic anhydride is a scrupulous activities at at ports. Since legal import is main ingredient for preparing nar- APort Qasim. They are allowing smug- stopped the goods are being smug- cotics substances, especially heroin. glers to throw their smuggled goods gled. The importer namely M/s Jebel According to the FIR lodged in the markets after getting clear- Ali dumped the containers in Ko- against the importer and its clear- ance through green channel under rangi area where the raid took place. ing agent, during the discreet protection of a few customs of\icials. In the meantime, the customs of- monitoring of the import data, a They are clearing these illegal or \icials involved in the scam of clear- suspicious consignment compris- banned goods by declaring as scrap. ing the consignments become more ing a container no. CARU375740- This is causing more than Rs 1,000 active to save their skin including 2 (1X20’) said to contain item billion loss to national exchequer as ADC Yaseen Murtaza and others. having a vague description of revenue through legal imports is de- Sources claimed that ADC Yasin “summer fluid” shipped from creasing. Murtaza was taking huge amounts Poland bearing address of During last few weeks, Customs from these green channel smugglers. Peshawar based consignee namely Today reported extensively on mis- According to sources, 14 contain- M/s Pak Traders. use of green channel facility and un- ers were cleared through green earthed the scam in which a number channel of the said company from See next page of containers of betul nuts, acetic Port Qasim while only six have been anhydride and iron-steel were be- ing cleared through green channel. After so much coverage by Customs Today, Customs Preventive and In- telligence launched raids on green channel ‘smugglers’ and seized a number of containers cleared through green channel which shows to what extent this green channel smuggling is being carried out with the support of a few senior customs of\icers at Port Qasim. On 21 February, the scam of mis- using green channel at Appraise- ment Port Qasim was proved when Customs Preventive team raided a godown in Korangi Industrial area in Karachi and con\iscated six contain- ers \illed with smuggled betel nuts which were cleared under the garb of scrap from Port Qasim. Qamar Thallo, spokesperson for Pakistan Customs Preventive, told con\iscated yet. Customs Today that investigations Meanwhile, another scam of the have been broadened due to the green channel facility unearthed • Customs Today highlighted that banned items like health hazardous items, explosives, heroin are being smuggled from Port Qasim under green channel under the protection of ADC Yasin Murtaza. Based on prior media information, Customs preventive carried out raid and caught 6 containers Betel Nuts which were admittedly smuggled through Port Qasim green channel. • First message of press conference was received from custom official on 24th Feb. at 10:05am and the second message cancelling the press conference was received at 11:40am the same day. • Customs Preventive silenced within a gap of around 1 hour!!! • Lobby of ADC Yasin Murtaza is very strong and silencing everybody who wants to highlight this mega scam of green channel smuggling at Port Qasim under protection of this strong ADC. 62

The Bill of Lading No MSCUVQ695966 of ered in a 20-foot container having 21.7 met- dride regulation in 11/1989. the shipment also showed a non-existent PCT ric tons of acetic anhydride on January 9, Acetic Anhydride is brought regularly to Code and an incomplete contact number of months after it had arrived at Port Qasim Pakistan ports using green channel facility. the consignee. Moreover, the address was from Tanzania. One of such consignments luckily got picked also very general. Owing to the suspicious The container was declared to contain recently for examination by system and the declarations, the container was blocked on “acetic acid glacial”, but the Port Control Unit massive in\lux got unearthed. 24.01.2018 in the system by R&D Section, of the Model Custom Collectorate, upon re- This chemical is used in processing for however no one turned up for clearance till ceipt of credible information, pro\iled and narcotics/heroin as well as for Improvised 31.01.2018. searched it. The container, imported from Explosive Devices (IEDs) that are used by Later on keeping in view the suspicious Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in November 2015 terrorists. Only one such consignment of nature, physical examination of the consign- was later shifted to the NLC Container Ter- 15,520 litres got luckily unearthed. ment was carried on 31.01.2018 by R&D staff minal on Mai Kolachi Road, Karachi. There may be more than 1,000 such con- in the presence of terminal representatives The statement said the consignment was signments that got already cleared in green and independent surveyors, which led to the primarily suspected in view of the fact that channel but Customs Port Qasim did not recovery of huge quantity of precursor “acetic traditionally Tanzania was not a producer of try to trace them back. This means hun- anhydride” tested and veri\ied by using the acetic acid. The consignee of the shipment dreds of litres of this highly dangerous First Defender Diagnostic Kit. was said to be in Sialkot. chemical is allowed to import and clear In view of foregoing un-refutable evidence This is by far the biggest quantity of through green channel due to involvement on record, it is evident that M/s Pak Traders, acetic anhydride sized anywhere in the of some customs officials in illegal activities Peshawar has made deliberate attempt to im- world, including Pakistan. Acetic anhy- at Port Qasim. port restricted/banned item i.e. acetic anhy- dride is used as the major precursor for Meanwhile, the facility of green channel is dride value amounting to $1.5 million be- the production of heroin and is also one of being misused at MCC-Appraisement Port sides importing the rusticated item. The the major chemicals used in the manufac- Qasim as 200 to 300 containers of Iron-Steel willful mis-declaration value and classi\ica- turing of IEDs. It was, however, yet to be scrap are being cleared through green chan- tion by M/s. Pak Traders, Peshawar and their determined what the actual purpose “of nel despite the fact that these items are not associates have therefore, violated provision this sinister attempt” was, said the state- allowed to be cleared through green chan- of Section 2(s), 16, 32, 79, 80, 192 of the Cus- ment. The value of the seized chemicals is nel, causing loss to exchequer worth billions. toms Act, 1969. Therefore, FIR to this effect is more than Rs860 million. Iron and steel scrap was also luckily un- lodged and efforts are being made to arrest The Pakistan Customs is a major par- earthed while clearing through green chan- the culprits involved in the crime. The recov- ticipant in “UNODC-WCO Container Con- nel. This one consignment meant a loss of ered goods i.e. Acetic Anhydride is importable trol Programme” and also a key partner of Rs23.592 million to national kitty. There is a only by authorized industrial consumers as World Customs Organisation’s “Pro- probability that 1000 such consignments al- per Sr. No. 19 of Appendix-B read with para- gramme Global Shield”. ready cleared but luck did not support Pak- graph 5(B)(i) and paragraph 11 of the Import In the past 18 months, INCB has detected istan. This means a loss of Rs 23.592 x 1000 Policy Order-2016. Thus it became quite clear a massive increase in worldwide diversion = Rs. 23.592 billion!! that the goods have been imported in viola- attempts and seizures involving acetic an- Port Qasim did not try to trace back such tion of the Import Policy Order-2016 and the hydride, a key chemical in the manufacture huge revenue loss of more than Rs. 23 billion importer had attempted to import the re- of heroin. Numerous countries in Asia, because of involvement of senior customs stricted precursor by mis-declaration of de- Africa, South America and Europe have been staff at Port Qasim including ADC Yasin Mur- scription and PCT code by contravening the targeted by traf\ickers searching for suppli- taza. A few senior of\icials are backing the provisions of Section 2(s), 16 and 32 of the ers of the substance. smuggling through green channel that’s why Customs Act, 1969 read with section 7 and Acetic anhydride is listed in Table I of the inquiry of above scam by FIA/NAB is not others relevant provision of Control and Nar- 1988 Convention because of its frequent use supported by Port Qasim senior of\icials. cotics Substance Act, 1997. in the illicit manufacture of heroin, but is also This is only tip of the iceberg. Much more re- Seizure of huge quantity of acetic anhy- known to have been used during the process mains to be unearthed. It is surprising why FBR dride worth USD 1.5 million in the interna- of illicit manufacture of methamphetamine and Customs high-ups are not taking action tional market is unprecedented in this Col- and methaqualone. against ADC Yasin Murtaza despite complete lectorate’s history. The chemical is also monitored by gov- proof and timely information. Different cham- According to customs of\icials, if Peshawar ernments and international organisations bers of commerce and importers associations customs of\icers don’t have ID and I-Form because of its suspected use in the manu- have appealed to the FBR chairman Tariq Pasha record of M/s Pak-Traders it means the im- facture of improvised explosive devices and Member Customs Zahid Khokhar to look porter company is totally fake and every per- (IEDs). To reduce heroin availability, the into the scam of green channel facility as huge son involved in the scam is part of the same United Nations (UN) has encouraged nations quality of restricted and banned items were racket including supplier, shipping company to control acetic anhydride, an essential being poured into Pakistan through green chan- and the relevant customs of\icials because if ("precursor") chemical typically necessary nel and it could not happen without the help of any importer doesn’t have ID it needs one to the drug's production. This effort, a major customs of\icials. They also demanded of Zahid time approval from DC, ADC or collector to environmental prevention policy, has re- Khokhar to thoroughly investigate the misuse of import a consignment for once without ID. In ceived little evaluation. The United States, green channel facility at larger scale and bring another raid, acetic anhydride was discov- per the UN's lead, implemented acetic anhy- the culprits to justice.  63

FIR of banned betel nuts cleared through green channel 64

Green channel smuggling by declaring goods as iron and steel scrap 65

manded bribe to ful\ill his illegal motives. \ice with all documents of my consignments, Moqeem Khan, CEO of Anjum Associates while I had submitted all the documents one majority of importers is upset due Federal B Area Karachi, said that he had sub- week ago. His intention was to get bribe”. to the non-professional behavior of mitted three complaints against Principal Meanwhile, former President Multan Principal Appraiser Dost Muham- Appraiser Dost Muhammad in 2017. He said Chamber of Commerce and Industry Khawaja madA who is currently performing his duties that he also wrote to the customs higher au- Jalaluddin Roomi said Corruption of Principal at Customs Appraisement East R&D section. thorities that the importers were facing prob- Appraiser Dost Muhammad, Incharge R&D The importers are of the view that appraisers lems, as Principal Appraiser Dost was always section of the Customs Appraisement East Col- like Dost Mohammad are bringing a bad using different methods to harass legal im- lectorate, is posing serious threat to the na- name to the Customs Department. porters. A group of importers KATI (Korangi tional security as he is involved in smuggling of Shaan Sanitary Managing Director Musa Association of Trade and Industry) said that hazardous material in the country. He said Ali Jan said it is not the only case of betel some importers have submitted complaint Principal Appraiser Dost Muhammad was nuts, the principal appraiser and his staff against Dost Muhammad. He always stopped working against the state through clearance of members ask importers to bring docu- legal consignments and demanded money hazardous material in the country after taking ments of consignments again and again for clearance of consignments. In this case, huge bribe and his case should be handed over with an intention to get ‘bribe’. He appealed importers faced a lot of problems in clear- to national security agencies.  the customs high-ups to take action against ance of their consignments. “We demand the Principal Appraiser Dost Muhammad. higher authorities to do something and take Farooq Ahmed Shah, M/s SG Traders, action against Dost Muhammad,” they said. SITE area Karachi, said all importers are on Managing Director of Hilal Leather Ko- the same page that the FBR and customs rangi Industrial Area Karachi, Amir Mansorii, high-ups should take action against this Prin- said Dost Muhammad is a big stain of Cus- cipal Appraiser because he didn’t do any- toms Department’s face. He said, “I have per- thing to stop smuggling rather he was in- sonally faced the corrupt Principal Appraiser volved in facilitating the smugglers and \ive months ago when I was engaged in clear- discouraging legal importers. He always de- ance of consignment. He called me in his of- 66

own staff. Banned and restricted then replace it with iron and data, R&D Department can tell items including dangerous steel scrap and close the walls that a particular TP is fraud: arachi East Collec- chemicals, betel nuts and drugs of the container. From their  Port of loading can be torate R&D Principal have been poured into Pakistan godown they send the con- matched with the items. It is Appraiser Dost through green channel & yellow tainer to the Lahore dry port known that certain countries export certain items. Like KMuhammad shut his eyes on channel, showing a close con- where goods are cleared Bulgaria exports copper raw trillions of rupees smuggling of nection of these crooked cus- smoothly as it contains iron and and cable. If an unusual banned items through the port. toms elements with smugglers. steel scrap as declared at product is shown imported Smugglers are working hand in Now they are removing these Karachi east collectorate. from a port of loading that glove with Dost Muhammad to goods through TP from Karachi R&D department is respon- does not generally export the smuggle goods like hazardous East Collectorate, without any sible to keep a check on docu- particular item then that TP chemicals, betel nuts, high value checking. ments and data of green chan- consignment can be checked. and banned items. They are re- TP means Transshipment nel, yellow channel, red channel  To hide the actual port of moving these goods through TP Permit and it is used in smug- to avoid any unscrupulous ac- loading most of the smugglers change the exporting country from Karachi East Collectorate, gling of banned items from the tivity through these channels. name to ‘Jabel Ali’. This is called without any checking, with the port because TP is not checked But Dost Muhammad does ‘switch B/L’. The goods are help of Dost Muhammad, In- at Karachi port. Customs of\i- nothing to stop any wrongdo- coming from a different charge R&D Department. cials put a seal at the door of ing through these channels. location but the actual B/L is Customs Today unearthed the container as these goods Sources said despite having all hidden by the smuggler and a the misuse of green channel, yel- would be checked at its desti- the data available to Dost Muham- new B/L is made by him and low channel and now TP facility nation like Lahore where the mad where he can easily catch the shown on record. but FBR and Customs high-ups clearance would take place. fraud of TP goods still he know- Most of the countries do not paid no heed to impartial me- Smugglers take the container ingly is not catching them rather allow using their name as port dia coverage against corrupt \irst to their own warehouse to he is facilitating them. of loading when in switch B/L. practices at Karachi ports by its remove the banned goods and Sources said with available Only rare trading countries like 67

‘Jabel Ali’ allow such a mechanism they can identify whether the munity of South Punjab is seriously corrupt of\icials in the Customs of switch B/L. Also shipping com- goods shown can be true. Iron aggrieved by non-professional be- Department, including appraisers, panies are involved in it. They and steel weight is different haviour of Principal Appraiser Dost examiners, assistant collectors, from cloth weight. provide switch B/L facility specif- Muhammad. It was stated by All deputy collectors, additional Col-  Some heavy items cannot be lector and others. Involvement of ically to only those customers transported in 40 feet container. Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajiran Chair- who inform them that the partic- The weight is more of these items man Khawaja Suleman Siddiqui customs of\icials in the smuggling ular item is banned at the port of while its size is less. These items while talking to Customs Today on is like \inancial terrorism in the destination. are transported only in smaller transshipment mega scam. country, he said, adding that “every If a person wants to bring betel containers like 20 feet containers. Khawaja Suleman said that R&D kind of smuggling activity is dev- nuts from India, he will inform the When the R&D data shows such Department is responsible for astating the national economy.” shipping company that these be- list of items coming in 40 feet checking documents and data of Khawaja Suleman said that at tel nuts are banned in Pakistan then they can hold them. consignments cleared through the Karachi Port, the staff was involved When smugglers get their and hence he wants to have a green channel, yellow channel and in clearance of banned and prohib- banned/smuggled items at Karachi TP, but Dost Muhammad did not do ited items which might cause threat ‘switch B/L’. The shipping compa- East Collectorate then they know nies generally do not allow that the data is available to Dost anything to stop alleged smuggling to public safety. Unfortunately, the ‘switch B/L’ facility but with such Muhammad at R&D division of the through these channels. He said government has failed to imple- request they provide the facility. collectorate. How is it possible that that some corrupt customs of\icials ment any sound policy against cor- Now the goods would be declared the smugglers get their billions of like Appraiser Dost Muhammad rupt of\icials like Dost Muhammad as ‘iron & steel scrap’ from ‘Jabel rupees worth of goods to the port were allegedly operating their par- in the Customs Department and Ali’ and will be cleared in green while they know that Dost allel smuggling networks for illegal complaints by several importers channel or in TP. The B/L will Muhammad can catch their green clearance of contraband items like and businessmen revealed that the channel and TP goods based on show that it has come from Jabel dangerous chemicals and betel Customs high ups had not taken that data? This is not possible Ali. Even Jabel Ali authorities do nuts. He said that some corrupt cus- any action against them. unless they are assured by the not care and allow using their relevant customs staff like Dost toms of\icials were serving at key He said that major manufac- name as port of loading in the Muhammad to bring the goods posts and a few high ups of the Fed- turers in Pakistan cannot compete ‘switch B/L’. without worry and that their goods eral Board of Revenue (FBR) have with the kind of prices available in But Dost Muhammad at R&D would not be stopped and their given them ‘free hand’ to carry out the market for the imported raw has full data and he can catch this data would be ignored by Dost. corrupt practices. It is unfortunate material. He said, “We are also fraud. He also has the container Without internal support of that hundreds of customs of\icials responsible for giving bribe to number with him on record. Customs staff the smugglers are facing inquiries on serious corrupt of\icers in order to get the Through this container number would never take the risk of bil- charges of corruption and they are legal work done”. he can exactly track from where lions of rupees worth of their still posted on key posts for man- He added that the FBR did not the container has started to move. goods. FBR and Customs high-ups aging their smuggling network take \irm action against its He can track the container that it must take prompt action to stop which is continuously causing huge corrupt of\icials even after getting moved from India but the B/L and these illegal activities at Karachi revenue loss to the national concrete evidences and NAB had declaration is showing Jabel Ali. East Collectorate. exchequer. He said that he was also failed to curb corruption in  The weight of container is Meanwhile, the business com- disappointed over the posting of the country.  shown in R&D data from where 68

ment can tell that a particular TP is fraud: and he can catch this fraud. He also has the con- 1. Port of loading can be matched with the tainer number with him on record. Through mugglers are working hand in glove items. It is known that certain countries export this container number he can exactly track from with Karachi East Collectorate R&D certain items. Like Bulgaria exports copper raw where the container has started to move. He can Principal Appraiser Dost Muham- and cable. If an unusual product is shown im- track the container that it moved from India madS to smuggle goods like hazardous chem- ported from a port of loading that does not gen- but the B/L and declaration is showing Jabel Ali. icals, betel nuts, high value and banned items. erally export the particular item then that TP 3. The weight of container is shown in R&D They are removing these goods through TP consignment can be checked. data from where they can identify whether the from Karachi East Collectorate, without any 2. To hide the actual port of loading most of goods shown can be true. Iron and steel weight checking, with the help of Dost Muhammad, the smugglers change the exporting country is different from cloth weight. Incharge R&D Department. name to ‘Jabel Ali’. This is called ‘switch B/L’. 4. Some heavy items cannot be transported TP means Transshipment Permit and it is The goods are coming from a different location in 40 feet container. The weight is more of used in smuggling of banned items from the but the actual B/L is hidden by the smuggler and these items while its size is less. These items port because TP is not checked at Karachi port. a new B/L is made by him and shown on record. are transported only in smaller containers like Customs of\icials put a seal at the door of the Most of the countries do not allow using their 20 feet containers. When the R&D data shows container as these goods would be checked at its name as port of loading when in switch B/L. such list of items coming in 40 feet then they destination like Lahore where the clearance Only rare trading countries like ‘Jabel ALI’ allow can hold them. would take place. Smugglers take the container such a mechanism of switch B/L. Also shipping When smugglers get their banned/ smug- \irst to their own warehouse to remove the companies are involved in it. gled items at Karachi east collectorate then they banned goods and then replace it with iron and They provide switch B/L facility speci\ically know that the data is available to Dost Muham- steel scrap and close the walls of the container. to only those customers who inform them that mad at R&D division of the collectorate. How is From their godown they send the container to the particular item is banned at the port of it possible that the smugglers get their billions the Lahore dry port where goods are cleared destination. If a person wants to bring betel of rupees worth of goods to the port while they smoothly as it contains iron and steel scrap as nuts from India, he will inform the shipping know that Dost Muhammad can catch their declared at Karachi east collectorate. company that these betel nuts are banned in green channel and TP goods based on that data? R&D department is responsible to keep a Pakistan and hence he wants to have a ‘switch This is not possible unless they are assured by check on documents and data of green channel, B/L’. The shipping companies generally do not the relevant customs staff like here Dost yellow channel, red channel to avoid any un- allow ‘switch B/L’ facility but with such re- Muhammad to bring the goods without worry scrupulous activity through these channels. But quest they provide the facility. Now the goods and that their goods would not be stopped and Dost Muhammad does nothing to stop any would be declared as ‘iron & steel scrap’ from their data would be ignored by Dost. wrongdoing through these channels. ‘Jabel ALI’ and will be cleared in green channel Without internal support of Customs staff Sources said despite having all the data avail- or in TP. The B/L will show that it has come the smugglers would never take the risk of able to Dost Muhammad where he can easily from Jabel Ali. Even Jabel Ali authorities do billions of rupees worth of their goods. FBR catch the fraud of TP goods still he knowingly is not care and allow using their name as port of and Customs high-ups must take prompt ac- not catching them rather he is facilitating them. loading in the ‘switch B/L’. tion to stop these illegal activities at Karachi Sources said with available data, R&D Depart- But Dost Muhammad at R&D has full data East Collectorate. 

officials has been playing in the hands of gerous chemicals, betel nuts and drugs have smugglers at Karachi East Collectorate. been poured into Pakistan through green chan- few ‘corrupt’ customs officials at Customs Today unearthed the misuse of nel & yellow channel, showing a close connec- Karachi ports have started clear- green channel, yellow channel and now TP fa- tion of these crooked customs elements with ing smuggled goods through ‘TP’ cility but FBR and Customs high-ups paid no smugglers. asA they have changed their action plan of heed to so much media coverage against cor- Now they are removing these goods clearing illegal goods from ‘green channel’ rupt practices at Karachi ports by its own staff. through TP from Karachi East Collectorate, and ‘yellow channel’. This nexus of corrupt Banned and restricted items including dan- without any checking.  0669

TP means Transshipment Permit and it is used or using TP. But this department is controlled by achieve personal goals. in smuggling of banned items from the port be- Dost Muhammad, the principal appraiser there 3. He is abusing his of\icial post so as to achieve cause TP is not checked at Karachi port. Customs who is a corrupt of\icial and also unquali\ied per- personal objectives. of\icials put a seal at the door of the container as son for the post. 4. He claims to be running parallel commercial these goods would be checked at its destination Customs Today recently received a video activities which are not allowed under the law. It like Lahore where the clearance would take place. where it could be clearly seen that a container of is obvious that he is protecting those activities by In TP smuggling, the GD-TP is filed at the betel nuts was seized but customs staff was ne- abusing his of\icial post. collectorate where the goods have arrived gotiating to release the container after taking 5. He is incharge of R&D department whose like Karachi east collectorate. The smug- bribe. Betel nuts were hidden under chemicals so primary work is to check data of shipments and glers file wrong goods. Like when banned that it can be cleared under the garb of allowed ensure that green channel, yellow channel and TP betel nuts or liquor say weighing 8 tons is in low value chemicals. smuggling does not occur at the port. But instead the container, then they file iron scrap This video is important as customs staff is of controlling such smuggling at the port, he is weighing 8 tons. The goods are released seen in that video around the smuggled drums of protecting and facilitating such smugglers. from the port without checking. betel nuts that are hidden inside under the chem- 6. He is of\icially a junior post person but ille- According to S.R.O.174(I)/2013, the importer icals. Customs staff is saying that these betel nuts gally assigned to work at a senior post in R&D. has 7 days to make the goods reach the port of were caught because ‘negotiations’ failed. Obvi- This is one reason why above 3 kinds of smug- destination. It generally takes only 3 days for a ously these ‘negotiations’ are about deciding ex- gling does not stop even at your port despite your container to reach Lahore. Hence, the smugglers act bribe amount to be paid. This is at PICT port efforts. Such assignment at a higher post is not take the container \irst to their own warehouse. which falls under the Karachi east collectorate only illegal but also shows his powerful corrupt They have lot of time available hence they peace- where Dost Muhammad handles R&D depart- backing and lobby. fully remove the walls of the container through ment. This R&D department is responsible to 7. He is running a clearing agency under the special equipment. Then they remove the banned keep a check on documents and data of green name of his brother. He protects, using his of\icial goods like harmful betel nuts, liquor, drugs etc. channel, yellow channel, red channel to avoid any post, all the illegal work conducted there. and then replace it with 8 tons of iron and steel unscrupulous activity through these channels. This letter proves how smugglers bring scrap and close the walls of the container. Then But he did nothing to stop any wrongdoing their billions of rupees worth goods at from their godown they send the container to through these channels. Following is a letter of an Karachi ports without any hesitation and the Lahore dry port. At Lahore dry port, the goods importer sent to the Collector Karachi Appraise- with the support of corrupt customs offi- are cleared smoothly as it contains iron and steel ment East who has clari\ied how Dost is a crimi- cials like Dost Muhammad. They get full scrap as declared at Karachi east collectorate. nal and corrupt person and also how he is un- support and patronage from these corrupt Earlier there was also a question that whether quali\ied to be placed at the post: We have already officials, otherwise they could have smug- there is a department within the collectorate to apprised you that Mr. Dost Muhammad who is gled these goods from long porous borders. monitor data, docs, etc. so that such smuggling do presently serving as incharge of R&D department Legal and genuine importers appealed to not occur at the ports itself? Yes, there is a de- is involved in a lengthy series of serious crimes: the NAB and FIA to take prompt action partment at Karachi East Collectorate called R&D 1. He blackmails the genuine legal importers to against corrupt principal appraiser Dost (research and development). Its primary duty is ful\ill personal agenda. Muhammad to catch red-handed the hun- to closely supervise the data, docs, etc. so that no 2. He spreads false information and propa- dreds of containers filled with illegal goods smuggling happens using green/yellow channel ganda against the legal importers merely to at Karachi East Collectorate. 

the continues media coverage report regard- year-old corrupt Appraiser joined Customs ing the corruption of Dost and recommended Department in 1986 and was promoted to to investigate the issue. Appraiser in 2006. Dost has allegedly been in- ederal Board of Revenue's (FBR) Sources stated that internal inquiry may volved in clearing consignments of coining Customs Management Wing has for- be recommended after the initial investiga- oil, chemicals, scrap, pipe and papers through warded a report to Member Customs tions. Sources said that this report has no mis-declaration. He has also been named in ZahidF Khokar regarding Appraiser Dost Mo- connection with Supreme Court of Pakistan's violation of green channel and TP facility hammad’s corruption and its media cover- order in which the apex court had demanded scams. age, recommending investigation into the detailed report from the FBR and Director It is pertinent to mention here that Cus- matter. General Customs Intelligence and Investiga- toms Today extensively covered the issue of Of\icial sources told Customs Today that tion. And it is an internal report which has misuse of green channel facility and involve- while considering the media coverage of recommended investigations against corrupt ment of corrupt principal appraiser Dost corruption scandals of Appraiser Dost, the Appraiser Dost, they added. Muhammad, Incharge R&D, Appraisement Customs Management Wing has forwarded It is important to mention here that the 53- East Collectorate.  70

toms Ali Zaman Gardezi, Direc- A couple of days earlier, Cus- Pakistan Customs was ineffi- torate Intelligence and Investi- toms Preventive found a con- cient and it had failed to detect irectorate Intelli- gation has told that after tainer of the consignment im- revenue leakages. Several high- gence and Investiga- checking the whereabouts of ported by M/s Digicom profile companies had indulged tion (I&I) of Custom prime accused Zeeshan Akhtar declared to be LED lights. On into mis-declaration and rev- hasD contacted Federal Investi- who filed GD from hisself ID examination, the container was enue evasion since Green Chan- gation Agency (FIA) to initiate into Green Channel for clear- found to be stuffed with mobile nel has now become the safest legal procedure to arrest the ing four containers, they have phones and tablets. The said way to import and clear any- prime accused and the owner came to know that he has fled consignment had been cleared thing by declaring anything and of M/s Digicom Traders in away to Dubai. from Green Channel. there is no check and balance in mega smuggling and tax eva- It is pertinent to mention After this incident, Customs this regard. sion scandal, Customs Today that on 5th of November on this got high alert and all the con- Sources said a number of has learnt through a high offi- month Customs Appraisement signments of M/s Digicom were consignments are in line to be cial of I&I. East had recovered Rs18.7 mil- put on hold. Customs Preven- cleared through the Green Meanwhile Directorate In- lion from M/s Digicom Trading tive along with MCC Appraise- Channel and it is reported that telligence and Investigation has Pvt Ltd (Qmobile), which was ment East conducted joint ex- the unscrupulous elements lodged another FIR against M/s short-paid through availing in- amination of six containers would be clearing high-value Digicom Traders (QMobile) in admissible concessions under imported by M/s Digicom de- and high-tariff goods by which once again the owner of 5th and 6th Schedule on the im- clared to contain LED lights. mis-declaring the same as low- the company Zeeshan Akhtar port of LED lights. Moreover, However, the goods were found value and low-tariff goods has been booked along with his recovery notices for recovery to be as per declaration. through the green channel. other officials of his company. of Rs33 million have also been Assistant Collector Abeer Sources said presence of “This is the second FIR served on M/s Digicom. Javed detected inadmissible black sheep in the department against the company in last Meanwhile officials of Di- concessions claimed by M/s was the primary reason for four days,” said Deputy Director rectorate Intelligence and In- Digicom under 5th and 6th the failure of the risk manage- of Directorate Customs Intelli- vestigation has initiated a sep- Schedules. Abeer Javed found ment system. gence and Investigation. He fur- arate hunt to recover the that the said concessions, Custom Preventive Qamar ther said that they have regis- smuggled stuff under the garb which earlier were available on Thallo has told Customs Today tered a fresh FIR on Monday of LED Bulbs from various the import of LED lights had that Collector Preventive Dr after the successful raid on a godowns of the said company been withdrawn through a Cus- Iftikhar has ordered the inves- bungalow in which they recov- which was brought into the toms General Order (CGO). tigative officer of Inquiries and ered over 80,000 dumped Q- country in four containers Therefore, a recovery of Prosecution Branch (I&P) to Mobiles and two arrested offi- through Green Channel by mis- Rs18.7 million was made per- take the investigation to the cials of company has been declaration in the documents taining to the six containers officials of appraisement and produced in the custom court and further cleared by the ap- that had been examined. automation department who for obtaining further remand. praisement staff. Meanwhile, Deputy Collec- cleared the containers and gave It also has been learnt that Directorate Intelligence and tor Mohammad Ali Malik has the authority to the company Custom Preventive has decided Investigation team in the su- issued notices to M/s Digicom to use Green Channel facility. to ban the company for ever pervision of Deputy Collector for recovery of Rs33 million He also stated that the and initiated the process for Directorate Intelligence and In- which had been evaded in the Collector has adopted very cancellation of the working and vestigation Sindh (I&I) Shah same manner. An official said serious approach towards M/s import license of the company Faisal Sahu had recovered over Green Channel facility actually Digicom and decided to ban whereas the Directorate Intelli- 80,000 QMobiles from a bun- to facilitate high-profile and this company entirely. gence and Investigation offi- galow situated in the posh area reputed importers, but the fa- On the other hand Deputy cials has sought all the record of DHA Phase 7 worth Rs1.2 cility was being grossly mis- Collector Shah Faisal Sahu said of the company’s import since billion on Saturday and ar- used and the exchequer was that the hunt was on and more the company started its busi- rested two key officials of the suffering a huge loss. raids on the dumping points ness in Pakistan. company who are being inter- The official said the risk were expected where company Additional Collector Cus- rogated. management system (RSM) of have dumped the stuff.  71

FIR against Q-Mobile officials for smuggling 78160 mobile phones thru green channel 72 73 74

are ‘visibly of poor quality, in- Sources said Customs in- fested and un\it for human telligence department is also consumption’. Hence, the a department of Customs staff ustoms Today pro- damage to Pakistan is not only and R&D Dost Muhammad is vided details regard- of hundreds of billions of ru- also from Customs staff. One ing smuggling of pees rather millions of people staff of customs is saving the bannedC items like betel nuts, in the country are losing their other staff of Customs here. dangerous chemicals, etc. health or life after consuming Sources said during the in- from Karachi East Collectorate these hazardous substances. vestigations, many of the ac- under the protection and fa- Sources said FIR was cused persons have actually cilitation of Dost Muhammad. lodged by Customs Intelli- mentioned on record, as The Principal Appraiser of gence and further Investiga- available in the interim R&D department, Dost tions were carried out in de- charge sheet, that they have Muhammad has all the data tail. 19 persons are held cleared the goods from available to him based on accused after the investiga- Karachi east collectorate. which he can stop this smug- tions. But it is a surprise that They have mentioned many gling happening through all these 19 persons are pri- Goods Declaration (GD) green channel, yellow channel vate persons and none of the numbers starting with al- and TP from the port. customs departments’ own phabets ‘KAPE’. When the GD Sources said Customs in- persons have been named! number starts with alpha- telligence department got ac- How is it possible that a scam bets ‘KAPE’ then it means tivated on these reports and of such a huge nature takes ‘Karachi Appraisement East’. raided a godown at SITE area, place on regular basis at the The accused have also pro- Karachi. In this single raid Karachi East Collectorate vided GD copies to intelli- they found more than where all the data is available gence which states clearly 600,000kgs of betel nuts valu- with Dost Muhammad of the name as ‘KAPE’. This im- ing more than Rs. 1.5 billion. If R&D department, and still the plies the hazardous betel one single godown raid could Customs staff monitoring and nuts were cleared at Karachi get such huge quantity and clearing these goods at the east collectorate under the high worth of banned goods ports are not named as ac- protection of Dost Muham- then experts say that through- cused in the mega scam? The mad as he had all the data out Pakistan there would be management of the collec- available but did not stop hundreds of such godowns torate is not in the hands of these betel nuts which ac- where such banned goods private persons rather it is cording to intelligence de- worth hundreds of billions under the control of Customs partment are ‘visibly of poor can be traced out. The depart- staff where Dost Muhammad quality, infested and unfit for ment writes that these goods has all the data at R&D. human consumption’.  75

Following accused persons mentioned on  Accused in attached interim challan, proprietor of M/S Aruba Trading imported record, as available in the interim charge Muhammad Zubair S/O Zamir-Ud-Din betelnuts from Karachi East Collectorate sheet, that they have cleared the goods from Tejani is proprietor of M/S Zubair having GD Number: KAPE-HC-56809 Dated Karachi east collectorate: Corporation imported betelnuts from 25.09.2017   Accused in attached interim challan, Karachi East Collectorate having GD Accused in attached interim challan, Abdul Ghani Ronjha S/O Muhammad Numbers: KAPE-HC-46011 Dated Farheen Irfan W/O Muhammad Irfan Yaqoob is partner of M/S Kiran Food 08.09.2017, KAPE-HC-46533 Dated proprietor of M/S Rohain Corporation Products imported betelnuts from Karachi 09.09.2017 imported betelnuts from Karachi East  East Collectorate having GD Number: Accused in attached interim challan, Collectorate having GD Number: KAPE-HC- KAPE-HC-105324 Dated 13.12.2017 Shahzad Tejani S/O Feroz Ali Tejani 98842 Dated 05.12.2017 Sources said  Also Ms/ Aruba Traders imported proprietor of M/S Feroze Products Customs staff is not ready to legally proceed Betel Nuts from Karachi East Collectorate imported betelnuts from Karachi East against Dost Muhammad as he is their having GD Number: KAPE-HC-56809 Dated Collectorate having GD Number: KAPE-HC- colleague though involvement of Dost is 25.09.2017 as presented by Abdul Ghani of 34312 Dated 24.08.2017 obviously proved through documents and  Kiran Food Producers. Accused in attached interim challan, statements of so many persons in the case.  Accused in attached interim challan, Ghulam Mehdi Nayani S/O Barkat Ali The only option here is that NAB takes up Mushtaq Ali Tejani S/O Rehmatullah Tejani proprietor of M/S Al-Abbas Industried the case and investigates the role of Dost is proprietor of M/S Saarim Enterprises imported betelnuts from Karachi East and other customs staff in this smuggling of imported betelnuts from Karachi East Collectorate having GD Number.: KAPE-HC- betel nuts. Only an independent Collectorate having GD Numbers: KAPE-HC- 92760 Dated 23.11.2017 investigation of NAB can solve the matter  24193 Dated 02.08.2017, KAPE-HC-46533 Accused in attached interim challan, for our beloved country and protect us from  Dated 09.09.2017 Muhammad Ali S/O Muhammad Jamil such huge loss of lives and revenue. 76

tigations forward against the ship- ping company that transported the n the directions of Chief acetic anhydride’s consignment Collector South Abdul from Poland to Karachi port,” an of- Rasheed Shaikh, the \icials told Customs Today on the CustomsO Port Qasim has sought in- condition of anonymity. formation about the importers and It is pertinent to mention that relevant details to broaden the in- the of\icials of the Pakistan Cus- vestigations into the shipping com- toms had foiled a smuggling bid of pany M/s MSC in acetic anhydride a huge quantity of dual use pre- smuggling scam, Customs Today cursor acetic anhydride worth has learnt. around $1.5 million. According to the details, the Cus- The Acetic Anhydride, a main toms Investigation Unit (CIU) of ingredient for preparing narcotics Port Qasim Collectorate has taken substance as well as making highly this initiative after obtaining prior dangerous explosives by the ter- approval from Chief Collector Ap- rorist out\its was shipped from praisement South and Collector Poland for a Peshawar-based im- Port Qasim Chaudhary Javed be- porter. On 2nd February, the Cus- cause it has surfaced in the investi- toms Collectorate Port Mohammad gation that the approximately 24 Bin Qasim, Karachi claimed to have tonnes of acetic anhydride was seized a huge quantity of 15,520 tried to be smuggled by using the liters equivalent to 16.7 metric tons name of a fake importer company of pure grade highly sensitive dual M/s Pak Traders from Peshawar. use precursor acetic anhydride, a When customs of\icials tried to lo- major component of improvised cate the of\ice and management of explosive devices (IEDs) and also M/s Pak Traders they found noth- used in illicit manufacturing of ing on the ground which proved heroin. After this scam was sur- that the company was fake and ex- faced, the of\icials of Pakistan Cus- isted just on papers. “We have toms Port Qasim approached the found nothing about the importer of\icials of Poland to seek assistance even we have checked the record to trace out the actual culprits in- from recent past but no imports volved in the smuggling of dual- were found related to M/s Pak purpose chemical acetic anhydride Traders that’s why now we have which is used to make heroine, ex- only one option to carry the inves- plosives and bombs.  77

security and public \inance. The President take any action against corrupt of\icials FPCCI added that economic welfare will like Dost Muhammad. come through awareness about crippling She said that serious irregularities ustoms Appraisement East R&D effects of corruption in government insti- found at the bonded warehouse for the Section Principal Appraiser Dost tutions because corruption in clearance of clearance of import shipments with con- Muhammad has crossed every contraband goods cause bad effects on nivance of Dost Muhammad and his team Climit to hamper ef\iciency of customs de- economic development. Corruption in- raised serious questions on the integrity of partment by his widespread corruption creases inequality and distorts the sale, customs department. Corrupt of\icials like through clearance of contraband goods and redistribution role also wastes na- Dost Muhammad are operating their illegal and Federation of Chamber of Commerce tional \inancial resources. services for the sake of kickbacks openly. and Industry will take up this mega cor- The corruption carried out by Customs Corruption became a boon for the cus- ruption issue with the higher authorities of Appraisement East Principal Appraiser toms of\icials like Dost Muhammad and customs department. Dost Mohammad needs to be plunged by his network nowadays as they are facili- These views were expressed by Presi- fair investigations in order to sustain the tating smugglers for the clearance of their dent Federation of Pakistan Chamber of effectiveness of public sector agencies. contraband items for the sake of their \i- Commerce and Industry Ghazanfer Bilour The President FPCCI said that interests nancial bene\its through kickbacks. while talking with Customs Today. of importers must not be harmed and ef- She said that govt must interrogate se- Bilour said that in developing countries forts must be made to properly investigate rious irregularities and corruption of Dost like Pakistan these fraud scams are proved the matter of Dost Mohammad. Muhammad and his network which is a to be major disincentive and obstacle to Meanwhile, Former Vice President major problem for genuine importers. She trade expansion. FPCCI Syeda Masooma Subtain has said suggested that Dost Muhammad and other Ghazanfer Billour further said that the that corruption of notorious Incharge R&D corrupt of\icials who if found guilty in the scams of corrupt customs of\icer and his Dost Muhammad at bonded warehouse is bonded warehouse scam should be pun- team are leading towards disastrous con- causing serious security risks and damag- ished severely and an exemplary sentence sequences in terms of harming national ing integrity of customs department. should be given to said of\icials for eradi- In an exclusive interview with cation of corruption.  Customs Today, she told that most recent corruption at bonded warehouse is again an eye opener for the customs high- ups to take strict action against dishonest Dost Muhammad who is running parallel smuggling network in the country. Masooma told that corruption is deep rooted in the customs department and it is also one ma- jor reason that huge scams are appearing with every passing day which shows inability of depart- ment and FBR which failed to 78

Customs Department in its report titled “Ascertain the market demand of goods prone to smuggling – Establishing the volume of smuggling” published in May 14, 2015 by Customs Preventive Karachi established that Rs 1000 billion smuggling is carried out by smugglers and these goods are thrown in large and small markets across the country. Chief Justice communicated displeasure to former FBR chief Tariq Mahmood Pasha on open sale of smuggled goods in main markets of major cities. Most of the smuggled goods in the markets are cleared though green channel at Karachi ports with connivance of Customs staff. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar has taken notice of the green channel illegal clearances and the court associate sent a copy to the NAB Chairman for necessary action. As per above-mentioned report, 13 commodities were taken for research and after thorough research, it was noted that out of those 13, 11 had a significant part of the market share, which was catered through smuggling. The findings give the quantum of smuggling taking place in the country for each of the commodities investigated. In addition, the tariff lost by the FBR was also calculated and compared to the taxes collected. Next, the value of the smuggled goods was compared to the GDP. Both of these comparisons showed that smuggling through green channel plays a significant role in loss of revenue to the national exchequer annually. Pakistan’s GDP is $283.7 billion (World Bank, 2016). The smuggling to GDP ratio for just 11 commodities investigated in this study accounts for 3.88% of the country’s total GDP, and is 9.46% of the total tax collected by FBR. Therefore, the challenge posed by smuggling to the growth in GDP and collection of revenue is staggering. On 11 products smuggling, estimated revenue lost is $2,638,808,398.97 and if we consider smuggling of 100s of other products including banned betel nuts and dangerous chemicals through green channel, the loss of revenue would certainly become equal to 10% of the GDP and touch the mark of Rs 1000 billion. Green channel scam started in 2011-2012. Hence, if we consider 6 years of green channel clearances then it will be around 30 million containers. Even if we take the figure on the lower side then too it will not be less than 10 million containers in green channel cleared without scanning and examination. So much of liquor, mobiles, electronic items, cigarettes, betel nuts, chemicals, etc. have been poured into the country through green channel. Pakistan has lost Rs. 1,000 billion and also millions of lives and properties due to this scam.  79

FOLLOWING ARE COMMODITIES FINALIZED TO GAUGE REVENUE LOSS DUE TO SMUGGLING 80

TOTAL REVENUE LOSS ON 11 PRODUCTS’ SMUGGLING STANDS AT RS 321235340448.61 81 82 83 84 85 86

TOTAL LOSS IN TYRES STANDS AT USD 118472743.23 = APPROX. RS 14422279397.10

TOTAL LOSS IN TVS STANDS AT USD 9068006.99 = APPROX. RS 1103893830.93

TOTAL LOSS IN TEA STANDS AT USD 77503436.16 = APPROX. RS 9434880800.94

TOTAL LOSS IN CIGARETTES STANDS AT USD 26870426.62 = APPROX. RS 3271071384.59 87

TOTAL LOSS IN MOBILE PHONES STANDS AT USD 1056670334.52 = APPROX. RS 128633763172

TOTAL LOSS IN PLASTIC GRANULES STANDS AT USD 222187 = APPROX. RS 27047934.45

TOTAL LOSS IN STEEL SHEETS STANDS AT USD 112571436.80 = APPROX. RS 13703883858.85

TOTAL LOSS IN POL IHSDJ STANDS AT USD 874049097.60 = APPROX. RS 106402366896.34

TOTAL LOSS IN VEHICLES STANDS AT USD 174808147.79 = APPROX. RS 106402366896.34 88

upreme Court of Pakistan should provide fool proof security to witnesses to ensure safety and seize all relevant records pertaining to misuse of green channel for fair trial. It was demanded by former General Secretary of Multan Tax Bar Association Muhammad Imran Ghazi. He expressed that business community of Swhole country including South Punjab is suffering from widespread corruption of some customs staff. He said that law enforcement agencies in Pakistan failed to take any action against corrupt elements who are involved in an organized crime which encourages dishonest people in the country. He said that if government provides security to witnesses who are willing to give assistance to Supreme Court of Pakistan in probing misuse of Green Channel facility then this effort will be highly appreciated. Being a lawyer he felt that there were few cases in which accused had been awarded imprisonment or any penalty due to weak prosecution system and poor investigations of customs department. He appreciated Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar for taking notice against billions of corruption through illegal clearances of shipments from green channel facility. After shocking revelation of misuse of Green Channel facility, genuine importers are facing severe issues in the clearance of their legitimate import shipments due to gluttonous staff of customs. Now customs department has adopted measures for genuine importers to satisfy their high ups and they are trying to satisfy their high ups. It is very difficult for honest and genuine importers to clear their shipments due to strict checking and examination procedure adopted with genuine importers and it is causing unnecessary delay in the clearance of their shipments. Business community wondered that action against corrupt officials of Customs is originating delay in clearance of their shipments and they are delivering message to importers that they should stay away from investigation in mega corruption cases, he added. If customs department had taken any serious action against corruption of Principal Appraiser Dost Muhammad and his allies, then Supreme Court could not have interfered in this matter. It is almost impossible to take action against corrupt customs officials in this intense atmosphere created by corrupt elements in the society and Supreme Court should take special measures in this regard for fair trial where witnesses should present themselves for submitting records. Pakistan is already facing law and order situation and witnesses will be soft target for corrupt mafia and it is also responsibility of our law enforcement agencies to protect them.  89

corrupt Principal Appraiser Dost Mohammad has put reputation of Customs Department at stake, while violation of Green Channel and TP facility and illegal clearance of contrabandc items by the Customs officials like “Gang of Dost” is not only flux to national revenue but also a security risk. These views were expressed by Naima Ansari, former Vice President of Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FPCCI) and Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce and Industries (IWCCI) while exclusively talking with Customs Today. Naima Ansari expressed her serious concerns over the deep silence of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and high-ups of Customs Department even receiving continuously complaints against the corrupt official Dost Mohammad. “ The FBR and Customs Department should set up a committee for thorough investi- gation and inquiry; however, a strong and strict action is the need of time against such corrupt officials as we always have to take hard decision to discourage corruption,” she demanded. Appraiser Dost has a strong lobby, due to which, still the FBR and Customs high-up could not even take any action against such a big scam of corruption of Dost & company, she added. She added: “We are facing revenue shortage; national revenue is badly damaged by corruption, violation of rules & regulations, bribery, indeed corruption and nepotism obstruct to achieve national and internationally set goals of economy and development. Naima Ansari told Customs Today: “I also noticed that some of Customs officials exploited businesswomen who are new in business even the Customs Department should encourage and facilitate women in business, but there are always some bad bugs in every department which destroy the good image of the department.” Naima Ansari expressed worries for violation of Green Channel and TP facility that’s why country is facing huge challenge of revenue leakages because of culture of smuggling and corruption. Bribery and corruption is discouraging legal import, small & medium businesses, effecting business and trade while also indirectly affecting the end consumers, Naima added. She also demanded the government to establish a business oriented and trade friendly policy to discourage smuggling and illegal import. Green Channel and TP facility violation are raising concerns in the business com- munity; their investment is at risk and also smuggling badly effect legal import, Naima stated. Naima Ansari said: “We always appreciate trade ori- ented, anti-smuggling, anti-corruption polices by the government; how- ever, implementation of such polices are also be a priority.” 90

usiness community lauded appointment of Rukhsana Yasmin as new Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and hoped that she willB take special measures against corruption and mis- use of Green Channel facility for betterment of country. MCCI President Khawaja Jalaluddin Roomi expressed that this is honor of our country that first time in its his- tory, a woman has been appointed as chairman Federal Board of Revenue, adding that she would help in re- solving economic issues and challenges faced by coun- try. He said she has joined as chairman Federal Board of Revenue when economic situation of country is in crit- ical situation and business community is also worried due to negative environment created for business and embezzlement at ports which disturbed the business of genuine importers due to corrupt mafia operating at ports. He hoped the government will impose uniform tax system on business community for their suitable busi- ness environment and discretionary powers of Federal Board of Revenue staff will be withdrawn in order to avoid its misuse. He said newly appointed chairman will bring reforms in the tax system and form national tax system as business friendly that all pay their liable taxes without any hurdle and it is an opportunity for financial reforms in the country. She will figure out solution for the economic issues and make comprehensive strategy for rescuing economy. He said that economic conditions are not appropriate due to anti-business policies of the Federal Board of Revenue and we hope she will manage to devise better policies which sort out actual issues of business community for sustainable development in the financial system. He hoped that billions of refunds are stuck in the Federal Board of Revenue so she should make better mechanism for issuance and expedition of refund cases. 

must be taught ironic les- about the mega scam of son for causing loss of mil- corruption and role of new he new Federal lions to the exchequer. FBR chief, she said that the of Revenue Chair- Green Channel facility new FBR chief must take man Rukhsana was miserably misused by the matter seriously and YasmeenT needs to eliminate some fraudsters and cus- evolve tools for curbing the the risk of corruption in toms of\icers due to which corrupt practices in cus- Green Channel facility importers all over Pakistan toms department. Advocate through reform policies. demanded chief justice of Kakakhel added that im- This was stated by Pakistan to take notice of porters were worried about Kakakheil advocate while Green Channel violations to the fraud carried out openly talking with Customs Today. curb corruption of billions. by Principal Appraiser Dost Mehwish Kakakheil added When inquired from advo- Muhammad of Appraise- that Green Channel abusers cate Mehwish Kakakheil ment East Karachi.  91

toms Dept) are not taking action it shows that they are part of such crime,” he added. slamabad Chamber of Amir said that FBR established Commerce and Industry One Link system to avoid such (ICCI) President Shiekh frauds which is appreciated by IAmir Waheed has said that Prin- importers; however, systematic cipal Appraiser Dost Muhammad approach in the form of green and Co. are the real enemies of channel, yellow channel and TP the country because they are in- smuggling is used by Principle flicting huge revenue losses to the Appraiser Dost Mohammad to national exchequer. blackmail importers and get bribe While talking to Customs Today on the name of “speed money”. exclusively, ICCI President Amir “This discourages small scale im- said that country markets includ- porters while on the other hand ing Rawalpindi markets are filled also makes importers life miser- with contraband goods, which re- able,” he added. flects that these items/goods are ICCI President Amir further cleared through ports by getting said, “Our country faces leakage in bribe. It is a big question that how the revenue collection, but black these illegal goods/items reached sheep in the customs department the markets? The Federal Board of are collecting parallel Revenue (FBR) and Customs De- revenue through bribe and clear- partment should take action ance of contraband goods, and un- against such criminal elements as fortunately this parallel revenue clearance of such contrabands is higher than the revenue col- goods is a serious crime, other- lected by the department.” Amir wise the country will face trun- also suggested that the government cated revenue collection. should reduce the tax rate to avoid The ICCI president further said smuggling of goods and leakage of everyone knows that Principle Ap- revenue. He added that lowering praiser Dost cannot take such step the taxes will increase revenue col- alone as it is a team work; however, lection and help discourage smug- the higher authorities have to mon- gling activities. ICCI President Amir itor the system and if a staff mem- demanded of the FBR and Customs ber found involved in such illegal Department to take serious action activity, he must face exemplary against such black sheep in the de- punishment. “If they (FBR and Cus- partment.  92 93

he customs of\icials involved in corruption must be dealt with iron hands as the Supreme Court took ac- tion against corrupt practices in customs department. TPrincipal Appraiser of Appraisement East Dost Moham- mad and his gang are fearing the investigations because it will expose the evil face of of\icers causing loss of billions to the exchequer. The corruption in customs department was highlighted by Customs Today after which media highlighted the misuse of green channel facility which has caused serious loss to the national kitty. Advocate Jaffer Qazi expressed these views while talking with Customs Today at Peshawar. The advocate added that upon direction of Supreme Court of Pakistan, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has initi- ated investigation against the corrupt practices in customs department and FBR of\icial has also admitted misuse of green channel, causing loss of billions to the customs ex- chequer. According to revelations the FBR admitted that ten million containers have been released without scanning and examination which has cursed the customs department and caused defamation. Advocate further said that now the NAB concluded that the corruption in customs department has been increased in last few years due to which a huge number of containers have been cleared illegally which also included contraband goods. Advocate Jaffer Qazi added that now the corruption has been admitted by NAB investigations after which it has become mandatory for customs department to take action against the corrupt practices and arrest of\icials like corrupt He added that it is the high time to bring corruption to zero Principal Appraiser Dost. level because the higher institutions have taken notice of the Earlier he said that a mega scam was unearthed by Customs corruption in the department. Today at Customs Dry Port Peshawar in which the Deputy Col- The advocate Qazi when asked about the customs laws and lector Naveed Ather was held accountable but no action was the nature of tax rules regarding the declaration of consign- taken against him due to which the three customs appraisers ments, he informed that customs laws have been very artistic who were arrested in same case got released due to which the when it comes to import and export clearance data. The culprits were not dealt with iron hands which increased the risk Customs laws are very much hard and require high level fraud of corruption at Peshawar Dry Port. to misguide the customs department and deprive the national Advocate Qazi further said that when corruption found in the exchequer of genuine taxes. The FBR chairman should take customs department is not handled with harsh reaction, the strict action against green channel fraudsters for posing loss of risk of corruption could not be eliminated. billions to the national exchequer.  94

cial Dost Mohammad in order to dis- courage those supporting him, causing rincipal Appraiser Dost huge loss to the exchequer. The Advo- Muhammad is illegally oper- cate further told Customs Today that so ating smuggling networks far a number of importers based in Pe- Pfor clearance of contraband items shawar have sidelined themselves from upon which the criminal silence of the business of trade and transit but Customs high-ups is causing huge loss the Customs high-ups are not worried to national exchequer. about the corruption made by lower The Principle Appraiser allows staff in different regions of Pakistan. clearance of contraband goods like He said there needs to be a proper Indian gutka, banned medicines and check and balance system which can betel nuts which not only causes loss identify the data to be used for tracing of to the customs revenue collection but moving consignments between borders also earns bad name for the Customs which can increase tax collection.  Department. The Members of Peshawar Tax Bar expressed certain objections over large-scale corruption of Principal Appraiser Dost Muhammad, who is currently performing his duties at Customs Appeasement East, R&D sec- tion, Karachi. Advocate Isaac Ali Qazi, member of Isaac Law Associates here in Peshawar, informed Customs To- day in an interview on Thursday that due to corrupt customs of\icials like Principle Appraiser Dost Mohammad, importers and exporters registered a lot of cases against Customs Depart- ment in which they were frustrated on clearance of legally imported goods to Pakistan. Advocate Issac Ali Qazi further said that the clearance of contraband goods is a serious crime upon which the ap- praiser needs to be punished but these of\icials become blue-eyed persons of smugglers and criminals who not only tease hardworking of\icials but also frustrate genuine importers. In Pe- shawar region, containers are seized at Kohat often despite the green chit of clearance given from the Karachi port for taking bribe. The Advocate added that the Customs high-ups need to take strict action against the corrupt of\i- 95

resident of KCCI, Mufassir Atta Malik, has said that a few corrupt customs of\icials are defaming not only the department but also the country. Higher FBR of\icials Pshould eradicate corruption with iron hands and make the country corruption-free as it is vital for a strong economy and prosperity of the country. Talking to Customs Today, Malik said it is true that majority of importers are facing dif\iculties in clearance of their consign- ments due to unnecessary hurdles created by Principle appraiser Appraisement East Collectorate Dost Muhammad and his team. He said, “We know a number of his activities are illegal. We will call a meeting of all importers and we are going to take decision about this issue.” Answering to a question, he said: “We are going to make a com- plaint to customs higher authorities about this corrupt appraiser.” He further said due to such corrupt of\icials a question has been marked on the reputation of customs department. He said unnecessary delays of consignment are being made by corrupt appraisers which cause huge loss to traders. Importers have been demanding for the last several days to take strong action against Dost Mohammad. An inquiry committee should be set up on this issue who would look into this matter, he added. It is pertinent to mention here that principal appraiser was allegedly extending full support to smugglers to clear their goods through green channel. Being head of R&D Appraisement East Depart- ment, he had full authority to access all data related to import of containers. Customs Today has been reporting on abuse of green channel since past many years. An appeal regarding Rs 1000 billion green channel scam was repeatedly published in the newspaper by senior journalist Asad Kharal and then the complaint was lodged before the Chief Justice. After this complaint, the CJP took notice of the issue and ordered the quarters concerned to submit reply within 10 days. Meanwhile, CEO of M/s Muneeb Bella Garments who is also of\ice-bearer of Karachi Chamber and Commerce & Industry said that it is not a new issue, Appraisement East Principal Appraiser Dost Muhammad often creates unnecessa`ry hurdles for importers using different methods. It is worthy to mention here that Customs Today reported extensively on misuse of green channel facility at Karachi ports where mega brands like Mobilink and QMobile were reported to be grossly abusing green channel facility with connivance of Customs staff.  96

Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) Pakistan succeeded to prove its reports regarding large-scale green channel smuggling as Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr Justice Mian Saqib Nisar took notice of this mega scam and copy of the Orders sent to the Honourable Chairman NAB Mr. Justice (R) Javed Iqbal for necessary action. After CJP’s notice, DG Customs Intelligence, in his report submitted to the then FBR chairman Tariq Pasha, admitted that green channel facility has been ‘mercilessly abused’ by some syndicates in connivance with a few corrupt customs officers. Another FBR official admitted that almost 10 million containers have been cleared through green channel which shows the exact scale of this scam. It is actually a scam equal to 1000 Avenfields. Customs Today (CT) has been reporting on abuse of green channel since past many years. An appeal regarding Rs 1000 billion green channel scam was repeatedly published in the newspaper by senior journalist Asad Kharal and then the complaint was lodged before the Chief Justice in Supreme Court’s Lahore registry. After this complaint, the CJP took notice of the issue and ordered the quarters concerned to submit reply within 10 days. Earlier, CT reported extensively on misuse of green channel facility at Karachi ports where mega brands like Mobilink and QMobile were reported to be grossly abusing green channel facility with connivance of Customs staff. Smuggling of dual use precursor acetic anhydride, dangerous chemicals, liquor, betel nuts and electronics items was exposed and reported through Karachi ports. These reports led to multiple raids, tens of FIRs and recoveries of illegally cleared goods worth billions of rupees. Notwithstanding, these actions were only a token in nature and a drop in ocean whereas much more needs to be unearthed. CT also published reports about changing of strategies by green channel smugglers as they started clearing illegal goods through yellow channel, TP, switch B/L and bonded warehouses. Now, Rukhsana Yasmin has taken charge of FBR chairperson and she has good repute and past corruption-free record. It is hoped she will take a prompt action against abusers of green channel to save billions of rupees losses to the exchequer and precious lives of millions of Pakistanis. In fact, purpose of writing this book is to expose Rs 1000 billion mega scam of customs green channel and appeal the Honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan and

Honourable Chairman NAB to take strict action against the culprits to save billions of rupees of the nation.