LAHORE: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has unearthed a mega scandal of the registration of used, smuggled and stolen vehicles — mainly trucks and buses — on the basis of fake army auction vouchers for several years by a gang comprising officials of the Punjab excise and taxation department and private persons.

The anti-graft watchdog that launched its investigation in 2017 revealed that registration of as many as 7,013 vehicles was dubious, with 4,000 of them being registered on the basis of fake vouchers while record of other vehicles also could not be verified, thus causing a loss of Rs 300 billion to the exchequer directly and indirectly.

In standard practice, people or organisations who buy used military vehicles in open auction conducted by the army get these vouchers to apply for new registration numbers and motor vehicle examination (MVE) fitness certificates against nominal taxes. A data entry operator of the excise department after processing the case and receiving registration fee refers it to the relevant section for verification of documents/voucher. An excise inspector then sends the case to the army’s relevant unit for verification of the voucher. After the due verification of the voucher, the case is sent back to the excise department for registration/allotment of new number to the vehicle.

But in this scandal this standard procedure was completely bypassed. The anti-graft watchdog inquiry found that the 7,013 vehicles were registered between 2015 and 2018.

Inquiry unearths dubious registration of 7,013 vehicles causing loss to exchequer

A copy of the ACE report is also available with Dawn.

The report said the investigation was launched after it emerged that a bogus registration number had been issued to the truck that was used in a bomb explosion in Lahore in August 2017. The explosive-laden truck, bearing chassis No FB-113KA-14454, had been parked on Outfall Road, Lahore, before the blast.

The suspects arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of police at that time had disclosed about a network of private people who with the connivance of government officials of the MVE and Vehicle Fitness and the excise department had got around 3,000 vehicles registered on the basis of bogus documents. As the truck used in the terrorist attack on Outfall Road was also among them, the CTD after further investigations into the blast arrested seven government officers.

The report unveiled that fake registration numbers were allotted to decades-old buses and trucks re-manufactured at the Badami Bagh Lorry Adda, one of the largest industries in Punjab.

It was estimated that the fake registration affected the import of thousands of commercial vehicles during all these years, with the result that the government could not earn over Rs300 billion that could have been generated through import duty and other fees/taxes under various heads including customs duty, advance income tax, port charges, regulatory duty, according to the report. For each commercial vehicle, the government could have generated at least Rs9 million through import duty as well as fees/taxes under various heads.

Role of TikTok star

The ACE inquiry also found that TikTok star Khurram Riaz Gujjar, known for sharing his videos with a few lions, was involved in the scandal. During investigations, the teams found evidence of Rs40 million transactions in his accounts.

On digging deeper, the anti-graft body unearthed that Rs200,000 was being paid for each fake registration number by the gang that used to sell each for Rs1.2m to the old bus and truck makers. Besides record of fake registration of the vehicles indicated that identity cards of people living in various corners of Punjab were used in the fraud without their consent.

“From the perusal of record, it was found out that 1,290 vehicles were registered in the name of a poor man, Qaswar Abbas, on the basis of army auction vouchers,” read the report.

Mr Abbas was a resident of south Punjab and when the ACE team reached out to him, he expressed ignorance about the misuse of his identity card. “Abbas said once he has been an employee of Khurram Riaz Gujjar and never participated in any auction,” the report added.

The investigation team also collected record from the excise department about the 996 vehicles which were registered in the name of one person, Ali Areezi Shah, a stamp vendor. He also claimed that he had nothing to do with the entire process, saying his identity card might have been misused.

Similarly, when the ACE team found hundreds of vehicles registered in the names of two other persons — Talal Tayyab and Mohammad Adil Butt — on the basis of bogus army vouchers, they were grilled. In their written statements, they claimed they were unaware of the matter and had never participated in the auction of vehicles, according to the inquiry report.

It said the ACE confirmed it from relevant quarters that the network of private persons and government officials had prepared fake army auction vouchers to commit crime through illegal registration of vehicles, preparing fake fitness certificates for ulterior motives, causing a huge loss to the national exchequer and created safety and security risks for thousands of travellers.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2020