Islamabad, August 6, 2025: Pakistan’s Directorate General of Customs has unearthed what is being described as the country’s biggest trade-based money laundering scandal, centered around the import of luxury vehicles. A 127-page audit by the Post Clearance Audit (PCA) department reveals that dozens of high-end vehicles were cleared through customs at suspiciously low values, resulting in billions of rupees in tax evasion and raising serious concerns about systemic corruption and illicit financial flows.
Between December 2024 and March 2025, auditors reviewed post-clearance data for 1,335 luxury vehicles. The findings were staggering: importers declared a total value of PKR 670 million for vehicles that were later assessed to be worth over PKR 7.25 billion. The gap—more than PKR 6.5 billion—was used to evade an estimated PKR 18.78 billion in customs duties and taxes.
One standout case involved a 2023 Toyota Land Cruiser, with a market value exceeding PKR 10 million, which was fraudulently cleared at just PKR 17,635. According to the report, customs officials may have aided in processing these under-valued declarations.
Allegations of Illegal Payment Networks
The audit also raised red flags about the origins of the payments. Not a single importer could prove that transactions for the imported vehicles were made through formal banking channels. This has led officials to suspect the use of hawala and hundi—informal and illegal methods of transferring money, often used to bypass official scrutiny.
This widespread under-invoicing and likely use of underground financial systems puts Pakistan’s financial integrity at risk. According to the PCA report, a staggering 99.8% of all imported Toyota Land Cruisers during the audit period were undervalued to avoid taxes.
National Implications and Next Steps
The report has been submitted to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), and Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU). These agencies are expected to launch a full-scale investigation into the financial misconduct, trace beneficiaries, and hold involved officials accountable.
The scale of this scam has not only caused immense losses to the national exchequer but also exposed vulnerabilities in Pakistan’s recently introduced “faceless” customs clearance system. Critics argue that the system, meant to reduce corruption, may have ironically enabled it by removing layers of accountability.
The scandal comes at a time when Pakistan is under increased pressure from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to strengthen its mechanisms for detecting and curbing money laundering and terror financing. This revelation could potentially impact Pakistan’s progress in exiting the FATF grey list and securing future financial support from multilateral institutions.