Fraudulent vehicle imports incur loss of Rs. 3 bn in tax revenue
- 5opn1
- December 4, 2024
- Political
- Fraudulent vehicle imports incur loss of Rs. 3 bn in tax revenue
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A high-profile fraud involving over 200 luxury vehicle imports has been unearthed, amounting to a colossal loss to the government owing to non-payment of tax.
The vehicles imported after 2015 were illegally registered in Sri Lanka’s Motor Traffic Department-MTD database as being imported before 2005 for evasion of paying customs duties,
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) launched an investigation after it was tipped off that 400 vehicles had been registered without paying the requisite custom duties.
It was revealed that the aforementioned vehicles were fraudulently included in the MTD database, evading the declaration system maintained by Sri Lanka Customs, in contravention of the Customs Ordinance.
As of April 2024, the CIABOC intelligence unit uncovered details of 200 such vehicles, with customs clearance records missing for 51.
These included high-end models such as Jeeps, Land Cruisers, Monteros, and luxury cabs. The estimated loss to the government is Rs.3 billion in unpaid duties, internal audit inspection carried out by the national audit office unit at Customs Department revealed.
