KARACHI: Dost Muhammad, Principal Appraiser Directorate General of I&I Customs, has requested the FBR Probe Committee to form a high level Joint Investigation Team (JIT) of the concerned departments (including MI, ISI, FIA, State Bank, FBR/Customs etc;) without further delay for an impartial investigation of the detected Multi-Billions Mega Scams constituting economic terrorism.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) constituted a Committee of two BS-20 Officers of the Pakistan Customs Service (PCS) to furnish a comprehensive report regarding veracity of claims made by Dost Muhammad over the past few years.
Dost Muhammad submitted his detailed response before the committee. He also requested necessary measures for his sufficient safety. Alternatively, he sought formal permission for filing of a NAB Complaint besides approaching the properly available forums i.e. MIT followed by filing of Constitution Petition at the competent jurisdiction etc; in these sensitive matters concerning national security and integrity.
He urged the Committee to scrutinize assets of the officers allegedly involved in facilitating corruption and economic terrorism along with their family members may kindly be scrutinized thoroughly through the NAB without further delay, besides placing their names on Exit Control List.
He requested that the Director I&I Customs, Karachi may be directed to arrange immediate payment of the agreed professional fees of the three lawyers withheld since years.
Dost Muhammad reported a disturbing pattern of smuggling, money laundering, and tax evasion that has been systematically overlooked, if not outright supported, by corrupt officials within these departments.
Postings in the Customs Collectorates and Directorate of I&I-Customs are often secured through bribes, colloquially known as ‘Bhatta’. This practice has led to a toxic work environment where non-compliant officers face harassment and are subjected to baseless inquiries.
The inability to audit Goods Declarations (GDs) assessed by senior officers, rendering the post-clearance audit system ineffective and allowing for unchecked tax evasion.
He pointed out the mental health crisis among the Customs field force, with many suffering from mental disorders, depression, and hypertension due to the stressful and corrupt work conditions. The whistleblower has also paid tribute to honest officers like Abdul Rashid Sheikh and the late Zahid Khokhar, who fought against these criminal cartels but were unable to bring about change from within the department.
He identified three significant scams: the KEPZ Mega Scam, the Fake EIFs Scam, and the Stainless Steel Scam, which have resulted in billions of rupees in losses. Despite repeated requests for protection and the formation of a high-level Joint Investigation Team (JIT), the whistleblower’s pleas have been ignored, and no substantial action has been taken.
The informant’s efforts to bring these issues to light have been met with resistance and danger, including a false FIR for “attempt to murder” lodged against them and their team.
Dost Muhammad has levelled serious allegations of facilitating smuggling, money laundering and tax evasion in the country as an institutional policy in an organized manner through corruption, misuse of authority, negligence/inaction (duly substantiated with sufficient documentary evidences) upon the group of officers including but not limited to:
· Former Chief Collector of Customs, Enforcement-South, Karachi Dr. Wasif Ali Memon
· Former Director, I&I-Customs, Karachi Mr. Muhammad Yaqoob Mako
· Former Collector of Customs, Exports-PMBQ, Karachi Dr. Saifuddin Junejo
· Former Additional Director-I&I-Customs, Karachi Mr. Ali Zaman Gardezi
· Former Collector of Customs (Adjudication-II), Karachi Mr. Muhammad Iqbal Bhawana
· Former Director Karachi Mr. Irfan Javed
· Former Assistant Director Mr. Muhammad Zohaib
· Former Deputy Collector Exports-PMBQ Mr. Ali Ijaz
· Former Collector Appraisement-PMBQ Mr. Mumtaz Ali Khoso
· Former Additional Collector Appraisement-PMBQ Mr. Honnak Baloch
· Former Additional Director Mr. Jamshed Ali Talpur
· Former Superintendent-R&A Mr. Saud Hassan
· Former Intelligence Officer Mr. Shabeih Haider
· Principal Appraiser I&I Syed Irshad Ali Shah
· Former Appraising Officer I&I Mr. Faisal Bashir
· Intelligence Officer Mr. Khayam Hussain Mirza
· Appraising Officer I&I Mr. Faiz Ahmed Faiz
· Former Principal Appraiser-PMBQ Raja Waseem Ahmed
· Former Appraising Officer-PMBQ Mr. Muhammad Umair Makki
· Former Appraising Officer-PMBQ Mr. Qaiser Nadeem Chatha
· Former FTO Mr. Mushtaq Sulkhera;
Dost Muhammad said the concerned officers of the Directorate have not only colluded with the criminal cartels also including Collectorate’s officers and the adjudicating officer to avoid proper adjudication of the detected cases on merit on the basis of the Directorate’s contravention reports but also managed deliberate late filing of the Customs Appeals and CPLAs before the Honourable Customs Appellate Tribunal and Supreme Court of Pakistan. Resultantly, the same were rejected without touching merits of the cases.