ISLAMABAD: Pakistani investigators have accused a petroleum importer and a bonded fuel terminal operator of siphoning off more than 32,000 metric tons of tax-unpaid fuel and funneling it into the black market through the country’s main cross-country pipeline.
To this effect, the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Corporate Crime Circle Karachi has filed a First Information Report (FIR) this week, a copy of which is available with The News.
It alleges that the company and a Customs-licensed bonded terminal at Port Qasim, conspired to remove and sell imported petroleum products before paying the customs duties, taxes and levies required by law.
Investigators say the scheme’s scale became apparent during a physical inspection on June 22, when officials found just 7,039.7 metric tonnes of bonded gasoline at the company’s storage terminal in Mehmoodkot, Muzaffargarh, even though customs and pipeline records indicated more than 39,000 metric tons should have been there. The shortfall, about 32,081 metric tonnes, exceeded the terminal’s entire licensed storage capacity, the FIR states.
The fuel had moved from Port Qasim to Mehmoodkot through another oil company’s pipeline network while officially still under bond, meaning it was not supposed to be sold, removed or consumed until import duties were paid through a separate customs filing. Investigators allege that filing was never made for the missing volume.
A similar pattern allegedly played out earlier in the year at the Port Qasim terminal itself, where the company is accused of selling roughly 4,744 metric tonnes of bonded high-octane fuel without filing the required customs paperwork, a scheme investigators say was corroborated by data extracted from a terminal manager’s laptop.
The FIR also accuses the terminal’s manager at Port Qasim of obstructing a joint inspection by refusing to provide stock records or calibration data and declining, on the company’s instructions, to sign an official stock document.
Seven individuals, including chief executives, and two companies are named as accused. They face charges under Pakistan’s Customs Act, sections of the Pakistan Penal Code covering fraud and forgery, and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The FIR states investigators are also examining whether officials at customs offices in Port Qasim, Faisalabad and Lahore, as well as at the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), facilitated the alleged scheme.
The case has been forwarded to two special courts in Karachi, and an FIA assistant director has been assigned to lead the investigation, the document said.
However, when contacted, GO Pakistan’s spokesperson said that Gas & Oil continues to clear its statutory obligations within the applicable payment cycles and, as per company records, remains current with respect to tax and levy liabilities due against it. The spokesperson said the company is extending full cooperation to the relevant authorities and will continue to engage with all stakeholders in a transparent and responsible manner.
As the matter is currently under review by the relevant authorities, it would not be appropriate to comment on specific details at this stage, the spokesperson said, adding “GO remains committed to the highest standards of integrity, governance and compliance, while continuing to ensure uninterrupted supply to its customers.”
