Rs70m tax evasion alleged

Published February 12, 2002

CHAKWAL, Feb 10: The Income Tax department has issued notices to two brothers accused of avoiding more than Rs70 million in taxes by concealing their income and assets.

A municipal committee contractor, Riaz Husain Dar, is reported to have alleged in a written statement submitted to the Chakwal income tax deputy commissioner that Sheikh Muhammad Riaz Farooqi and Sheikh Muhammad Rizwan had purchased two shops on Talagang Road for Rs5 million but paid no tax.

He said they also owned a flour mill, purchased for Rs20 million but were paying only Rs22,000 in taxes. He said they had understated the worth of their assets in their tax returns.

The Farooqi brothers said some their property had been inherited while they had received the rest of it as a gift from their father.