The head of Malaysia’s customs department said they have formed a special unit to go after syndicates forging the customs official receipt (COR) and diverting hundreds of millions of ringgit in revenue from the department.
Director-General Datuk Seri T. Subromaniam of the Royal Malaysian Customs Department told local media they have created the special task force to hunt down these syndicates, which are fronted by forwarding agents and produce fake receipts almost indistinguishable from the real CORs.
The task force will be looking at more than 100 forwarding agents that have been found allegedly forging customs receipts for import and export companies.
Subromaniam said a company would pay the forwarding agent the duty in good faith but receive the forged COR in return. The forwarding agent would then forge the documents and declare to customs either a lower value or some other items which carry lower duties.
Subromaniam added that the illegal activity was uncovered through customs audits, which showed discrepancies. But when the department went to make claims from the companies, the firms insisted they had paid the correct duty and produced the CORs, which turned out to be forged.
Subromaniam said they are also looking at the possible collusion between company officials and customs officers.
He said the task force has already identified and charged a few individuals suspected of being involved in such syndicates, while others are being investigated.
The task force includes members from the National Revenue Recovery Enforcement team led by the Attorney-General, the police, Bank Negara, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, and the Inland Revenue Board.
Photo: StuartMiles
