Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: On the instructions of the Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the Collector Customs Islamabad, has registered a case against a bootlegger firm, dealing in imported liquor.

The Customs Collector also issued a show cause notice for cancelling the licence and sealing the company named “Sun Diplomatic Bonded Warehouse”, which has been in the dirty business of importing wine of different international brands for the last many years. But the owner of the company, Aamir Malik, has fled abroad as some corrupt official of the FBR informed him well in time about the registration of the case.

The Daily Times had carried a news item last month in which it was identified that two citizens Ishtiaq Ahmed and Tahir Mehmood Tareen had acquired alcohol selling licences from the quota reserved for non Muslims by hoodwinking the FBR and pretending themselves as Ahmadis.

Later on they started a business in connivance with the same dishonest official of the FBR and caused a loss of Rs 400 billion to the national exchequer through tax evasion.

The firm took the advantage of the Commerce Ministry’s SRO, and showed 12 times low prices of branded liquor imported for Islamabad based ambassadors and cleared more than 11 consignments at the Islamabad Dry Port. The officials of customs were also involved in the mega corruption scam against and an enquiry is under way against them as well.

According to law, importing of liquor in excessive quantity than the prescribed limit, is termed as smuggling which is a cognisable crime. The company was doing this for many years but the custom officials had kept their eyes closed.

The firm was busy in importing the renowed international brnds like Teacher, Johnny Walker Red Label, Whyte & Mackay, Hedges & Butler, High Land Queen ,High Land Breeze, White Mackey and Catoos Whiskey. The official documents revealed that the consuming of liquor is on a continuous rise starting from 2012. .According to the records of customs, liquor worth Rs 1.614 million was imported in 2007, whereas in 2013, the import elevated to Rs 22.13 million.

“Sun Diplomatic Bonded” declared that the price of one litre og whiskey was Rs 100 and cleared away milliond of bottles ,which caused s hefty loss to the national kitty. Whereas the firms own’s record shows that the price of one litre of whiskey as being 18 USD.

The record says that in 2007 the cost of one litre of whiskey was Rs 235 whereas in 2013 it was raised to Rs 77182.