Might unseats ‘right’

• Political influence allegedly used to unseat Excise Dept Enforcement and Audit in-charge who unveiled various scams amounting to Rs 1b

A senior officer of the Punjab Excise Department who unearthed various scams to the tune of Rs 1 billion has allegedly been removed and appointed officer on special duty (OSD) due to “political interference”, Pakistan Today has reliably learnt.

Muhammad Asif, who was in-charge of Enforcement and Audit at the DG Excise Office, was responsible to take account of government’s revenues coming through Excise and Taxation Department and its field formations across the province.

According to documents, the unseated officer had carried out various enquiries, including checking of lifetime token tax at Rawalpindi and Lahore from January 2013 to June 2013 and has been removed, allegedly as “a message”.

Citing Asif’s removal from his post, a source told Pakistan Today, “Those performing well are punished for honesty. These mafias operate under the protection of those in power and when one disturbs them, he gets removed.”

However, Excise and Taxation Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman said there were many ‘complaints’ against the said officer, who himself would be audited and face enquiries. “The secretary and DG have removed the director with my consultation,” he said.

To a question on unearthing scandals, he said anyone on that post is supposed to do what Asif did and now his replacement will be doing the same.

EMBEZZLEMENTS:

According to documents available with Pakistan Today, the Excise Office’s Enforcement and Audit wing had unveiled financial irregularities, misuse of authority and embezzlement of public money to the tune of Rs 1 billion rupees during 2013-14.

According to details, the unearthed suppression of Rs 55 million of property tax at Wahga Town Circle had led to the detection of embezzlement of up to Rs 760 million in the entire province. The officials concerned had not mentioned the property tax amount in the receivables, showing a “clear-cut mala fide” and loss to the public exchequer.

Moreover, inspection of data of Lifetime Token Tax at Rawalpindi branch for six months showed corruption of Rs 123 million. The officials would update the token on the system without actually depositing any money in the kitty.

According to reports, the scam behind up-gradation of token tax in Lahore is going to be unearthed soon and is expected to be worth more than Rs 50 million.

Minor scams that were unearthed include Rs 1 million scandals in Bahawalnagar and Sahiwal districts each, while the embezzlement in property tax in Rahim Yar Khan is stated to be to the tune of Rs 13million.

The Enforcement and Audit Wing had also recommended to the Excise and Taxation DG to hold a third party audit of the major motor branches across the province after detecting huge embezzlements.

In a letter, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today, the audit wing had stated massive irregularities in Gujranwala, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Rahim Yar Khan, Sahiwal, Rawalpindi and Lahore regions, besides stating that Faisalabad, Multan and Lahore circles have refused to share their data for inspection or audit despite several requests.

A senior excise official on the condition of anonymity said documents clearly reveal that the Excise Department officials across the province have been minting public money with impunity and showing a complete disregard of any financial rules but said that “these files will also be lost somewhere in the huge backlog”.