Duty evasion: Customs ’ll prosecute erring banks - Comptroller-General

Dele Aderibigbe, Lagos- 05.11.2009

The Comptroller General of Customs, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi, on Wednesday declared the intention of the Customs Service to prosecute any one, individual or organisation, found culpable in the ongoing investigation to identify duty evaders.

The customs boss made the observation in Abuja, while speaking against the backdrop of a recent suspension of a leading bank in the country (name withheld).

He also warned that banks which investigation showed committed the crime at the corporate level would be de-listed and thereafter, prosecuted. “We have not concluded our investigations yet on this issue. But our goal is also to unravel those behind such duty evasion and diversion, so as to know if such offence was committed at the individual or corporate level,” Abdullahi said.

The Comptroller General posited that though he had no desire to wrongly punish any individual or organisation, he would nonetheless not fold his arms, and watch deliberate evasion of customs duty by those who were determined to fleece the Federal Government of due revenue.

“Let me assure you of this, anyone whose culpability can be established by our investigation will be prosecuted. But then, there may still be a need to identify it at which level the offence was committed, where an organi-sation is involved,” he explained further.