The Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) in Islamabad disclosed a Rs 16 billion financial scandal linked to the import of solar panels.
The FBR's report highlighted illegal imports totaling Rs 1.62 billion by a private company, alongside unauthorized imports of solar panels valued at Rs 16 billion across 11 different companies.
These imports were made by companies with a combined financial standing of under Rs 4 million, rendering them ineligible for importing goods through banks. Additionally, after these suspicious imports, data for these 11 companies was systematically erased to avoid detection.
Earlier instances involved the discovery of over Rs 69.5 billion in over-invoicing related to solar panel imports from 2017 to 2022. The report identified a clear over-invoicing pattern across 6,232 Goods Declarations (GDs) from 63 importers, indicating a transfer of Rs 72 billion by two private companies, despite the actual import value of solar panels being Rs 45 billion.
The FBR chairman briefed the Senate standing committee on finance about the over-invoicing issue. Violations of financial monitoring unit rules by commercial banks in these transfers led to the registration of an FIR against involved parties.
