Customs violation: FBR slaps Rs2.7bn penalties on Gerry’s Dnata

KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has hammered M/s Gerry’s Dnata (Pvt) Ltd with Rs. 2.7 billion penalties after adjudication orders established its involvement in the illegal removal of high-value imported electronic goods by circumventing customs clearance procedures.

The scam, which came to light after a coordinated investigation by the Collectorate of Customs (Airports), Karachi, involved the concealment of airway bills, deletion of index numbers, and the generation of fake gate passes through Gerry’s Dnata’s own computerized system, rendering consignments effectively invisible within the customs clearance framework and allowing them to be removed without the filing of Goods Declarations (GDs) or the payment of customs duty and taxes. The adjudicating authorities also ordered the recovery of Rs. 221 million in duties and taxes.

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The fraud first surfaced when customs officials intercepted consignments at the Gerry’s shed containing high-value luxury electronics, including laptops, iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, PlayStations, tablets, and memory cards, which were being removed through forged gate passes.

Subsequent investigations revealed that at least five additional consignments had already been illegally cleared through the same method. All implicated consignments originated from UAE-based suppliers and had been concealed from the WeBOC customs clearance system to avoid scrutiny.

Five adjudication orders established that the fake gate passes were not the work of isolated rogue employees, but rather the product of systemic failure, absent internal controls, and institutional complicity on the part of the terminal operator.

That complicity, authorities noted, was further evidenced by Gerry’s continued protection of delinquent staff members and its deliberate non-production of CCTV footage and system logs required to be retained under Section 211 of the Customs Act, 1969. The company also persistently obstructed the investigation despite repeated notices issued under Section 26 of the Act, officials said.

The customs authorities arrested eight individuals, including five employees of Gerry’s Dnata. Confessional statements were recorded from the accused persons.

A female employee admitted to having issued fake gate passes on the instructions of her supervisors, while an arrested cargo agent confessed to the existence of an organized network that had been operating for several years, engaged in manifest manipulation and systematic pilferage of imported goods. Investigators also recovered counterfeit customs gate officer stamps that had been used to fabricate the fraudulent passes.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026