Major action has been taken against officers, impostors,
businessmen, legal experts, and retired officers who are sponsoring
over-invoicing in the FBR system. On the instructions of the Prime Minister,
two separate committees consisting of officers from the State Bank, the Intelligence
Bureau, FIA, FBR, and Customs have been formed. And the committee has started
work.
Apart from the FBR’s
legal department, the services of private lawyers will be taken for Karachi and
Islamabad.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered immediate and
comprehensive legal action against all those involved in the serious scandal of
over-invoicing and money laundering of solar panels, which clearly expresses
the zero-tolerance policy against financial corruption and institutional
negligence.
Chairing a high-level meeting on the affairs of the Federal
Board of Revenue (FBR), the Prime Minister expressed grave concern over the
fact that this illegal over-invoicing scheme continued unabated from 2017 to 2022,
which raises serious questions about the performance of several regulatory and
enforcement agencies. He directed that all the officers involved in it, whether
directly involved or with negligence, should be identified immediately and
legal and departmental action should be taken against them.
To ensure the process of accountability, the Prime
Minister’s Office has constituted two high-level committees.
According to the official notification dated April 22, 2026,
the Committee for Disciplinary Action will monitor the action against the
officers of the concerned institutions, determine the supervisory
responsibilities and review the cases of administrative negligence.
On the other hand, the “Committee for Monitoring,
Investigation and Prosecution” has been entrusted with the responsibility of
ensuring speedy investigation and effective prosecution of all cases related to
the scandal. Both committees will regularly submit reports to the Prime
Minister's Office to ensure continuous oversight at the highest level.
Here are the names of the Committee members;
The members of the committee include Secretary Establishment
Division Nabeel Awan (Convenor), Deputy Governor State Bank Salimullah Khan
(Member), Additional Secretary Finance Division (Internal Finance/Investment)
Rashid Mahmood (Member), Member Admin FBR (Member), Additional DG Admin FIA
(Member), Representative of Intelligence Bureau (not less than Grade 20) and
other members will be appointed on the nomination of the convener.
Another committee has also been formed to investigate and
prosecute trade-based money laundering cases related to over-invoicing.
The committee will be headed by Director General
Intelligence and Investigation, Pakistan Customs Rubab Sikandar (Convenor),
Chief Collector Enforcement Basit Maqsood Abbasi (Member), Additional DG Anti-Corruption
Wing FIA Muhammad Idrees (Member), a representative of Anti-Money Laundering
who is at least a Grade 20 officer, a representative of the Intelligence Bureau
(not less than Grade 20), Deputy Commissioner Islamabad (Member) and other
nominated members.
The Prime Minister has further directed that the Minister of
Law and Justice appoint two experienced lawyers as special prosecutors, one in
Karachi and the other in Islamabad, to prosecute the cases.
The Prime Minister has also directed the appointment of
special prosecutors in Karachi and Islamabad to further strengthen the process
of effective prosecution of cases, which is a manifestation of the government’s
determination to take this case to its logical conclusion.
This case is being considered as one of the biggest examples
of trade-based money laundering in the history of Pakistan. The Directorate of
Post Clearance Audit (PCA) of the FBR played a key role in exposing the
scandal, where an organized network of fake importers and paper companies was
traced, which was involved in systematic over-invoicing in the import of solar
panels.
According to the investigation, imports worth about Rs 120
billion were deliberately overstated to illegally transfer funds abroad.
Later, the Customs Adjudication Authority, in a landmark
decision, upheld the charges and imposed a fine of Rs 111 billion on the
involved entities, while additional personal penalties were also imposed. The
proceedings also proved that most of the companies were fake, with no real
business operations, and were laundering money through forged documents and
fictitious transactions.
The fraud scheme involved inflating prices at the import
stage through dummy companies and later selling the solar panels at a lower
price in the local market, with the difference used for illegal external remittances.
The investigation also revealed the use of banking channels
and regulatory loopholes, which helped the scheme continue for several years.
Following the Prime Minister’s intervention, there has been
a renewed focus on institutional accountability, especially in the context of
the long-running nature of the scandal. The ongoing inquiry is also examining
the role of various stakeholders, including government departments, financial
institutions, regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies, to determine the
extent of oversight failures.
The next phase of accountability measures will focus on
reforms to strengthen fine collection, confiscation of assets derived from
illegal proceeds and inter-agency coordination.
These steps by the government are a clear indication that
strict enforcement and accountability against financial crimes are being
promoted, while the solar panels over-invoicing case has become a major test
for Pakistan’s legal and regulatory system.
The Prime Minister’s Office’s directives are bringing not
only private actors but also government officials to justice, which is being
seen as a strong expression of political will. While this case exposes
deep-seated structural problems, it also signals a breakthrough that could
reshape the culture of accountability in the country.
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