FIA books oil company for diverting 32,000 tonnes of untaxed fuel via pipeline network

Corporate Crime Circle Karachi files case against petroleum importer and terminal operator for siphoning bonded fuel into the black market.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has accused a prominent petroleum importer and a licensed bonded fuel terminal operator of siphoning off more than 32,000 metric tonnes of untaxed fuel. The siphoned petroleum was allegedly funneled into the black market utilising the country’s primary cross-country pipeline network.

According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the FIA’s Corporate Crime Circle in Karachi, the petroleum firm conspired with a Customs-licensed bonded terminal at Port Qasim. The suspects allegedly removed and sold imported petroleum products before clearing mandatory customs duties, taxes, and government levies.

The true scale of the illicit operation came to light during a physical audit conducted on 22 June. Investigators discovered only 7,039.7 metric tonnes of bonded gasoline at the company’s storage facility in Mehmoodkot, Muzaffargarh. However, official customs and pipeline records indicated that over 39,000 metric tonnes should have been present in the storage vats. The massive shortfall of 32,081 metric tonnes actually exceeded the terminal’s entire legally licensed storage capacity.

The fuel had been transported from Port Qasim to Mehmoodkot through an external oil company’s pipeline network whilst officially flagged “under bond”. This status strictly prohibits any sale or consumption until import duties are cleared via separate customs filings, which investigators state were never submitted for the missing volume.

A parallel fraudulent pattern was detected earlier this year at the Port Qasim terminal itself. Digital forensic data extracted from a terminal manager’s laptop revealed that the company sold approximately 4,744 metric tonnes of bonded high-octane fuel without completing the required customs paperwork. Furthermore, the terminal manager at Port Qasim has been accused of obstructing justice by refusing to provide stock records, withholding calibration data, and declining to sign official audit sheets on corporate instructions.

The FIA has named two corporate entities and seven high-ranking individuals, including chief executives, as accused in the FIR. They face heavy criminal charges under Pakistan’s Customs Act, sections of the Pakistan Penal Code relating to fraud and forgery, and the Prevention of Corruption Act. Investigators are expanding the scope of the probe to determine if complicit officials at customs offices in Port Qasim, Faisalabad, and Lahore, alongside the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), facilitated the multi-billion rupee racket. The case has been submitted to two special courts in Karachi.

In response to the allegations, a spokesperson for Gas & Oil (GO) Pakistan stated that the company continues to clear all statutory obligations within applicable payment cycles and remains fully current regarding its tax and levy liabilities. The spokesperson added that the firm is extending complete cooperation to the relevant authorities and will engage transparently, noting it would be inappropriate to comment further on specific operational details whilst the matter is under formal legal review.