Close

Tax Evasion/Illegal Money Value Transfers

Tax Evasion/Illegal Money Value Transfers

A reporting entity raised STRs on four different individuals for remitting a substantial amount of funds from jurisdiction D to multiple persons in Pakistan. The remitters were Pakistani nationals residing in jurisdiction D, and were engaged in different occupations/businesses. Funds were remitted through an exchange company of jurisdiction D with the purpose of “Home Remittances”. Such a substantial number of remittances sent with the sole purpose of home remittances created suspicion. These four individuals remitted a considerable amount of funds through 1300 transactions to more than 500 individuals in Pakistan. Upon a detailed analysis, more than 28 common beneficiaries were found who were receiving funds from more than one remitter. Nine out of 28 beneficiaries belonged to four different business groups where they held key management positions and received remittances from more than one remitter. These nine beneficiaries paid a very low amount of personal and business income taxes during the last three financial years. During the analysis, it was also identified that a business entity namely XYZ Trading run by one of the beneficiaries was already under investigation by a law enforcement agency for Trade Based Money Laundering charges. The financial intelligence was shared with the relevant LEAs as the suspects were apparently involved in using the channels of IMVTS and home remittance for tax evasion.

International Cooperation Request

An international cooperation request for information on all the four remitters was sent to jurisdiction D. The FIU of jurisdiction D responded in a timely manner with valuable financial information on the subject remitters which was shared by FMU with the relevant law enforcement agencies for analysis in their ongoing investigation.