The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has learned about a dubious scheme for the fake registration of used, smuggled, and stolen vehicles. According to a report shared by Dawn News, the vehicles involved are mainly large commercial trucks and buses.
The report also revealed that the ‘registrations’ have mostly been done against fake army auction vouchers for several years by a group of officials at Punjab’s Department of Excise and Taxation and a few other individuals.
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The investigation that began three years ago has exposed the fake registrations of 7,013 vehicles of which 4,000 had reportedly been registered against fake vouchers, while the rest had unverified documents.
Furthermore, the fraudulent operation has caused a loss of approximately Rs. 300 billion to the national exchequer.
The investigation reportedly began after the bogus registration number of a truck that had been used for a bomb explosion in Lahore in August 2017 came under the radar of the authorities.
The suspects who were arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the police reportedly revealed during their interrogation that a group of private individuals and some government officials from the Motor Vehicle Examination (MVE), Vehicle Fitness, and the excise departments had illegally registered around 3,000 vehicles and given them fake credentials.
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As per reports, the ACE has estimated that this act has been affecting thousands of imported commercial vehicles over the past three years.
Furthermore, not only have these fake registrations caused billions of rupees worth of losses for the national revenue but they have also heightened security concerns across the country by providing untraceable credentials to thousands of vehicles.
