FBR issues consumption certificates to ‘bogus’ companies: FIA

FAZAL SHER

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Tuesday told a parliamentary body that the offices of 27 out of 512 companies that received consumption certificates worth Rs1,120 billion from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) could not be located.

FIA officials, while briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Interior regarding an inquiry into Rs1,120 billion in consumption certificates issued to different companies for imported raw materials exempted from taxes in erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) regions between 2018 and 2026, said that the offices of 27 companies that had imported goods worth billions of rupees could not be found at their given addresses.

Senator Faisal Saleem Rehman presided over the meeting. The parliamentary body examined in detail the report of the Sub-Committee submitted by Convener Senator Saifullah Abro, which focused on tax evasion, illicit manufacturing, and trade malpractices within the tobacco sector, factories operating in the tax exempted areas (FATA, PATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), and theft of 2828 cartons of cigarettes and allied matters.

They said that the agency had started the inquiry on August 20 and issued notices to 512 companies allegedly involved in the case. During the probe, 31 companies had provided the required details to the investigation team, while owners of 17 companies appeared personally before the investigation team. The owners of 17 companies moved to the Peshawar High Court against the agency, they said.

FBR officials objected to FIA claims and said that the FIA has provided wrong information regarding the matter, as they had just issued notices and had not visited the sites so far.

To this, FIA officials said that the agency’s investigation team has issued notices and would also visit the sites.

Senator Saifullah Abro said that 17 owners who had approached the court had requested that the matter be referred to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance. He said that the owners of 17 companies also requested the court to restrain the agency from taking action.

He said that goods worth billions of rupees had been imported under the facility since 2018 and that the interior committee has raised the matter related to tax theft. “The facility was for the people of erstwhile FATA and not for the businessman,” he said, adding that the FBR was unaware of this huge tax theft and the committee had raised the matter.

Abro said that it would have been better if the finance minister had also been present at the meeting.

State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry said that the committee had done good work, but the matter is related to the Standing Committee on Finance. He suggested that the matter be referred after taking the point of view of all members.

He said that the Finance Committee could refer the matter to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Ministry of Interior.

Abro said that the issue should have been taken up by the Standing Committee on Finance as early as 2018.

The committee also discussed the matter related to the theft of 2,828 cartons of cigarettes worth Rs250 million from warehouses of FBR godowns in Swabi and Mardan.

Additional Director General (ADG) FIA told the meeting that a first information report (FIR) has been registered regarding the matter.

Senator Dilawar Khan said that the FIA had registered an FIR against inspectors and watchmen. Whether it is possible that an inspector or watchman could have moved such a huge quantity of cigarettes from the FBR warehouse, he questioned.

“If the FIR is registered only against inspectors and watchmen, such thefts will happen again,” he said.

The Chairman of the committee said that the FBR had acknowledged that the theft had taken place. The matter had initially been taken up on the directives of the Senate sub-committee but eventually resulted in an FIR against a driver and a watchman, he said.

Senator Shahadat Awan said an FIR had already been registered in the case and the committee should not discuss the matter further. The committee chairman, however, questioned whether the FIR should not have been registered against the relevant officials. “If I commit a theft, should the case be registered against my driver?” the committee chairman asked.

Officials of the Ministry of Interior also briefed the committee regarding Rule 18 of the Passport Rules 2021, which governs the issuance of Emergency Travel Documents (ETD) for one-way repatriation of stranded or deported citizens.

Faisal Saleem Rehman questioned delays in national status verifications and family tree attestations involving foreign missions and the Intelligence Bureau (IB).