The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has discovered a “mega scam” involving a foreign company transferring around Rs. 60 billion to more than 70,000 Pakistani people without the tax authority’s knowledge.
The money was sent by Payoneer, a US-based company with no physical presence in Pakistan.
Remittances were sent on the sale of various goods and freelancer consulting services using 27 different local banks, according to the FBR.
According to a statement released by the Islamabad Income Tax Commissionerate, payments were made by foreign clients into Payoneer accounts of individual Pakistanis in the United States. The funds’ recipients then borrowed the same amount from a Payoneer Inc. account held by Mobilink Micro Finance Bank Limited (MMBL) through a Jazz Wallet, or from Pakistani accounts held by local banks in Pakistan.