THE fraud syndicates in connivance with some dishonest clearing and forwarding (C&F) agents in the last two years released 4,000 consignments from Chattogram Port using forged documents and other illegal ways. News media reported that these gangs stole and misused the identities of two former Customs Officials of the Chattogram Custom House for committing the crimes. They somehow managed the officials at every layer of the department concerned to release the consignments and earned hefty amounts of money from importers depriving the government from a large sum of revenue.
Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) said they found evidence that the criminals entered the Customs’ House server using the IDs of a former Revenue Officer and another departmental officer who worked at Dhaka Customs House. The aforesaid numbers of consignments were released from the Chattogram Port between 2016 and 2018. The CIID sources said Customs officials “locked” the release order of a consignment on the server on June 25 last year, suspecting that it was imported through false declaration. The situation was almost identical for all consignments.
Releasing consignment without proper and valid documents is an open secret in the Port as seemingly everyone knows who are doing; who are backing and what types of steps actually needed to curve the forgery. Earlier in May 2017, declaring “capital machinery”, two firms imported products in 78 containers from China but they don’t have any office or factory at the given addresses. The consignments evaded compulsory scanning too but no legal action was taken against the Customs Officials who arranged the opportunities. Earlier, the CIID recovered a huge quantity of contraband liquor, expensive televisions, cigarettes and photocopiers from the two containers. There are dozens of such examples in the Chattogram Port.
We do urge the authorities concerned to increase vigilance so that they could easily trace the frauds. In that case, experts’ of relevant fields are needed to resist the cyber frauds as Customs House provides clearing and forwarding service through online. At the same time, stringent measures should also be taken against them who misuse the official power. Otherwise the Chattogram Port will not only lose its reputation but also the government will deprive of revenues in a regular basis.
