BY M QADEER
LAHORE: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Friday outlined the functions and jurisdiction of the Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation (Customs) and its regional directorates. The FBR explained the role of the establishment in combating tax evasion, smuggling, and trade-based money laundering.
Member Customs (Operations) will approve all operations required by Directorate.
As per the notification issued, cases involving mis-declaration and under-invoicing will be prosecuted under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, with the Directorate taking a lead role in investigating trade-based money laundering.
Due to a significant transfer of officers and officials from the Directorate to Customs Enforcement, assistance from Customs Enforcement will be provided for these tasks.
The Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation (Customs) will be headquartered in Islamabad, with regional Directorates in Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi, and Quetta.
The director general will report to the Member Customs (Operations), Federal Board of Revenue, Islamabad. Each regional Directorate will be led by directors, supported by additional directors, deputy directors, assistant directors, principal appraisers, superintendents, appraising officers, and intelligence officers.
The Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation (Customs) will perform several key functions, including collecting information on duty or tax evasion related to imports, exports, and concessionary schemes, which will be shared with the Board and relevant field formations.
It will also gather intelligence on smuggling activities, including trends, methods, and key players, and sharing this information through intelligence alerts.
It will utilize advanced data analytics, data mining, and machine learning to analyze trade data and conduct human intelligence operations.
It will also be responsibility of the intelligence establishment to examine economic data to identify patterns of organized duty or tax fraud and informing the Board and concerned field formations.
The Customs Intelligence will also conduct specific operations authorized by Member Customs (Operations) or, in urgent situations, by the Director General, with subsequent approval from Member Customs (Operations) within three days.
Exercising powers under the Customs Act related to offenses under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010 will also be the duty of the directorate of general.
The directorate will coordinate with international agencies and the National Targeting Centre and performing any other duties assigned by the Board.
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