An official of directorate of intelligence I&I IR told Business Recorder here on Wednesday that a wrong impression has been created by bogus refund mafia against the "Red Alerts" by distorting the facts. A deliberate attempt has bee made by organised gang that judicial decisions are being technically bye-passed by FBR. It has further been alleged that in certain cases of exporters, without formal blocking, technical hurdles are being created by PRAL and that it is being done on the directions of I&I-IR.
Official has clarified that two things have been deliberately mingled by the bogus refund mafia. Firstly, some export cases were blocked/blacklisted without formal orders of the Regional Tax Offices (RTOs). On the issue of blocking of cases, the court observed that the blacklisting of the registered units cannot be done without fulfilment of laid down procedure. On the other hand, no court has passed order regarding issuance of "Red Alters" by the directorate of intelligence IR. Thus, the mafia has mixed the two issues of blacklisting of units and "Red Alters" to make propaganda against preventive procedure. The fulfillment of laid down procedure for blacklisting of a unit and "Red Alerts" are two separate issues and cannot be mixed.
The mafia is trying to malign the office of directorate of intelligence I&I IR and creating an impression that courts have issued order against the "Red Alters", which prevented issuance of bogus refunds to the tune of billions. If the directorate has committed any violation of the High Court orders, anyone can go to the court for remedial measures. The directorate has not taken any step to disobey court orders and wanted to fully comply with the orders of the court, official added.
The official has referred to four cases wherein factual position has been elaborated by the agency. These four cases are related to bogus refund claims where investigative audits were conducted and resulted into detection of fake refunds.
Firstly, in pursuance of the directions issued by IR wing, FBR, investigative audit was initiated by I&I-IR Karachi. The unit is involved in claiming fraudulent refunds against fake supply of zero rated plastic goods under SRO 549(I)/2008 R/W SRO 68(I)/2009. In the instant case FIR No 11/2012 dated 6-7-12 (much before the stay order granted by SHC on 10-7-2012) has also been lodged by Directorate I&I-IR Karachi against the owner of this unit. Initially this unit was blocked by concerned RTO III Karachi vide C.No Misc./Blocking/SO-I/RTO III/2011-12/6951 dated 14-6-2012. Later on this case has been blacklisted by CIR Zone IV, RTO II on 22-10-2012. Detailed order of the commissioner throws light on the facts which led to the said decision. So a legal order has already been passed after giving ample opportunity of being heard.
Secondly, in this case in pursuance of the directions issued by IR wing, FBR, investigative audit was initiated by I&I-IR Karachi. The unit is involved in claiming fraudulent refunds against fake supply of zero rated plastic goods under SRO 549(I)/2008 R/W SRO 68(I)/2009. Initially this unit was blocked by concerned RTO III Karachi vide C.No Misc./Blocking/SO-I/RTO III/2011-12/6951 dated 14-6-2012. Later on in this case FIR No 12/2012 dated 10-7-12 has been lodged by Directorate I&I-IR Karachi against the owner of this unit. No violation of any court order has been made but certainly bogus refund claims cannot be processed in the presence of FIR and moreover petitioner himself is avoiding the court hearings. Directorate General I&I-IR would welcome any prioritised hearing in this case so that the issues are settled once for all. Thirdly, a case of a Karachi-based enterprise revealed that in pursuance of the directions issued by IR wing, FBR, investigative audit was initiated by I&I-IR Karachi. Initially this unit was blocked by concerned RTO III Karachi vide C.No Misc./Blocking/SO-I/RTO III/2011-12/6951 dated 14-6-2012. The unit is involved in claiming fraudulent refunds against non zero rated plastic goods under SRO 549(I)/2008 R/W SRO 68(I)/2009.Case is under Court Proceedings Suit No 742/2012 dated 23.6.2012 filed Stay Granted by the High Court. No violation of any court order has been made so far but it is strange that petitioner in the instant case himself is avoiding the court hearings. Directorate General I&I-IR would welcome any prioritized hearing in this case so that all issues are settled once for all.
Fourthly, a case of a trading company revealed that in pursuance of the directions issued by IR wing, FBR, investigative audit was initiated by I&I-IR Karachi. Initially this unit was blocked by concerned RTO III Karachi vide C.No Misc./Blocking/SO-I/RTO III/2011-12/6951 dated 14-6-2012. Detailed recourse to our record reveals that the said unit has claimed input of Rs 1,947,000 in March 2012 and Rs 3,094,080 in April 2012 from two units respectively; which have been involved in the issuance of flying invoices. Therefore, this input is dubious. Reportedly, the said unit is non-operative for the last two years.