A private oil marketing company has been caught diverting more than 8,300 metric tons of imported petrol from a customs bonded warehouse, in a scandal that has cost the national exchequer over Rs 1.25 billion in unpaid duties and taxes.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) uncovered the scam while auditing the import consignments of the company at Bin Qasim Port. A physical stock inspection at the customs warehouse exposed a massive shortfall, confirming that fuel worth Rs 2.38 billion had been quietly siphoned off before duty and levy could be collected on it.
Investigators found that the company had imported 18,048 metric tons of petrol across three separate consignments. Yet when officials checked the warehouse records against the stock in hand, only 9,699 metric tons remained, leaving 8,348 metric tons unaccounted for and presumed diverted into the local market without payment of applicable taxes.
The case has widened beyond the company itself, with authorities also seeking records from PEPCO to trace the fuels movement and establish how the diversion went undetected for so long.
This is not the first such case to hit the petroleum sector. The FBR previously recovered nearly Rs 5 billion from another petroleum company caught in a similar tax evasion scheme, suggesting a pattern of exploitation within the bonded warehouse system that regulators are now moving to close.
The investigation into the latest case remains ongoing, with further action expected as officials work to determine the full extent of the loss and identify those responsible.
