KARACHI: Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) PaCCS has resented the order passed by the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) in a stolen and subsequently encashed of a financial instrument saying the department had already sent a communication to National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) regarding involvement of its staff in the crime.
In the case a day earlier (December 17) the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) found maladministration on part of Customs and issued an order directing the collector customs to pay the full amount of security deposit Rs2,373,392 to the importer Ali Shah Enterprises, whose pay order was stolen from collector customs custody and encahsed through NBP by another agent.
Sources at the collectorate was surprised about the FTO order because the it had already initiated the proceedings for recover of such pay order from the bank as it had been established that without the help of the bank staff the encashment of pay order was not possible.
The MCC PaCCS wrote a communication to NBP on December 10 stating that a pay order amount Rs2,373,392 issued from an account in Allied bank of Pakistan in favor of Collector Customs Collectorate was submitted in MCC PaCCS on account of Ali Shah Enterprises as a security.
“Subsequently, it transpired that the pay order was illegally removed from Customs Office and fraudulently deposited in the PD Account of Osama International although the same was endorsed to Collector Model Customs Collectorate,†the letter said.
The collectorate stated that an FIR had been lodged and matter was under investigation before the court of special judge of Customs. “This illegal act of depositing the subject government security in the form of pay order, into the PD (Primary Dealer) account of a person who was not an ‘endorsee’ was not possible without active collusion of banking staff with the culprits which has also been the finding in post FIR investigation,†it added.
The National Bank has been informed that the real beneficiary of the pay order had been deprived of his amount owing to unjustified and prima facie fraudulent depositing of pay order in the PD account of an irrelevant person by the concerned banking officials at NBP. “The person on whose behalf the pay order was drawn, has recoursed various forums including this collectorate for redressal of his loss,†it said and adding that needless to mention that the loss would had not incurred, without malafide collusion of concerned banking staff with the person who illegally removed the pay order and had it transferred in his PD account for using it for his own sake in future.
NBP asked to return the amount deprived through illegal encashment by its staff to Ali Shah Enterprises immediately.
