The shocking 127-page report of the post-clearance audit has allegedly exposed the money laundering scandal in the largest luxury car import trade in Pakistan's history.
Money laundering
The big scandal of
The mask
The most expensive cars cost a few thousand dollars in Colombia
The real value of the vehicles was revealed to be more than Rs 7.25 billion, importers declared only Rs 670 million, evasion of customs duties and taxes of more than Rs 18 billion.
A 2023 model Toyota Land Cruiser worth over Rs 10 million was cleared by the customer by declaring only Rs 17,635 due to alleged collusion with customs officers.
Report by Sameer Qureshi
The Directorate General of Customs’ post-clearance audit has revealed massive fraud and money laundering in the clearance of a luxury vehicle allegedly cleared through the faceless system. The shocking 127-page report of the post-clearance audit has allegedly exposed a money laundering scandal in the largest trade in luxury vehicle imports in Pakistan’s history, in which importers systematically understated the prices of vehicles to evade taxes worth billions of rupees. The report also revealed a shocking case where a 2023 model Toyota Land Cruiser, whose original value was over Rs 10 million, was cleared for customs by declaring only Rs 17,635 due to alleged collusion with customs officers. According to the report, during the audit of Faceless Customs Assessment (FCA) system from December 2024 to March 2025, the post-clearance of 1335 imported vehicles was reviewed, in which the difference between the declared value of the vehicles and the value determined by the customs officers was more than Rs 1 million. Regarding under-invoicing, the report said that the importers declared the total import value of the said vehicles as only Rs 670 million, while the actual value of the vehicles was revealed to be more than Rs 7.25 billion. The report said that due to this manipulation, customs duties and taxes worth Rs 1.29 billion were paid and customs duties and taxes worth Rs 18.78 billion were evaded. According to the PCA report, in not a single case could the importers provide evidence that the payment for the vehicle was sent from abroad through legal channels, which has raised suspicions that the actual payment abroad was made through illegal remittance and hundi channels. The audit report has stated that during the period under review, 99.8 percent of the Land Cruisers imported into the country were cleared through under-invoicing to evade duties and taxes. The report also states that such systematic under-invoicing is not only leading to large-scale tax evasion but is also posing serious threats to Pakistan’s financial system. This revelation has come at a time when Pakistan is trying to meet the standards of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), especially the FATF and the IMF. The report has been forwarded to the Federal Board of Revenue, State Bank of Pakistan and the Financial Monitoring Unit for further action so that a joint investigation and legal action can be taken against this alleged fraud network.