The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has successfully apprehended four individuals allegedly involved in a massive tax invoice scam worth Rs11 billion.
According to reports, the FBR thwarted the operations of a gang responsible for generating fake or fly-by-night sales tax invoices and managed to arrest the suspects involved.
The authorities revealed that one of the accused was apprehended while submitting counterfeit sales tax returns on behalf of various dummy companies from his residence.
The second suspect was arrested at the PRAL Call Centre in Islamabad, where he was employed as a facilitation officer.
Additionally, during the raid, FBR officials managed to seize data amounting to Rs1.6 billion in fake output tax from the arrested PRAL officer’s computer. All four suspects hail from Karachi.
Notably, the FBR has recently decided to launch a nationwide crackdown on tax evasion, with a particular focus on major cities such as Lahore and Karachi. The list of tax evaders compiled by the authority includes industrialists, mill owners, traders, property dealers, and wholesalers.
The tax defaulters will face stricter penalties, including arrest, as the FBR intends to tighten its grip on tax evasion. Individuals in Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, and Multan are among those listed as tax evaders.
The FBR sources revealed, “We possess substantial evidence against these tax defaulters. They will be given a one-week period to produce the required documents after receiving a tax notice.”