The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is currently conducting an investigation into the activities of two shipping companies and their agents. These entities are suspected of colluding to manipulate trade documents in order to pay reduced duties and taxes to the government.

The fraudulent process involves providing false information about the goods to expedite customs clearance and evade the full tax obligations owed to the state.

Commissioner of the Customs Division, Alhaji Seidu Iddrisu Iddisah, revealed in an interview that the division had received intelligence regarding these two companies and their importers.

Upon further investigation, it was uncovered that these entities had altered the details on their bills of lading when clearing goods at the Tema Port.

Subsequently, the goods were specifically targeted and subjected to physical examination, which revealed discrepancies between the descriptions of the goods on the Bill of Entry (BOE) and the actual physical contents within the containers.

“The actual description of the consignments were footwear, bags, belts, underwear, galvanized pipes, etc. as against the entered description of Knapsack Sprayer,” he said.

Alhaji Iddisah reported that following the discovery, the Customs Division's Management took action by assigning both the Internal Audit and Post Clearance Audit (PCA) Department to carry out an audit on the implicated agents and importers. This audit was conducted in accordance with sections 7 and 9 of the Customs Act 2015 (Act 891) and aligned with the guidelines of the World Customs Organisation Revised Kyoto Convention.

The audit investigation revealed that a total of 23 Bills of Entry (BOEs) were implicated, with 22 of them linked to a single shipping line. These entries had been manipulated, with the identified companies providing inaccurate descriptions, misclassifications, and undervaluations of their imported goods, all aimed at reducing their Customs duties and tax liabilities.

Remarkably, the audit of just one of these Bills of Entry disclosed a staggering tax evasion amounting to 10.15 million cedis. Furthermore, the audit unveiled instances where certain agents had processed customs declarations containing incorrect information intentionally to lower Customs duties and taxes.

Simultaneously, they provided cloned Customs declarations containing the actual details of the goods, the accurate Customs value, and duty rates, while collecting the reduced amount from the importers.

“So, it means they’re cheating both the importers and the government. So, we went to the importers he will show you a customs declaration that they gave to him but that was not what he submitted to us,” he said.

During the course of the investigation, Alhaji Iddisah disclosed that the two companies in question admitted that their personnel had indeed manipulated the accurate descriptions of the goods originally provided to them by the shipping company. He further noted that the ongoing investigation aims to determine the extent of involvement and collusion of the importers in these fraudulent activities.

“We want all those involved and we want to give a warning to everybody that you cannot hide whatever happens it will come up and those who are into that practice can own up,” he added.

Additionally, it came to light that both the Bills of Lading from the shipping lines and the invoices declared to Customs had been falsified by the local shipping company.

Alhaji Iddisah explained that in light of these discrepancies, the Customs Division's management made the decision to expand the scope of their investigation to cover the past six years, with the aim of identifying any other companies involved in such fraudulent practices.

He also noted that while the involvement of customs officers had not been ruled out, investigations had not definitively established their complicity. Interestingly, the initial intelligence that prompted the investigation had come from customs officers themselves.

Alhaji Iddisah stated that demand notices had been issued to recover the taxes and penalties that the state had lost, and the investigations were still ongoing, potentially leading to legal prosecution.

In an effort to enhance monitoring and oversight, Alhaji Iddisah mentioned that the Customs Division was shifting its monitoring activities away from the ports to its headquarters, ensuring more effective supervision.

While still aiming to facilitate efficient clearance through the green channel, Customs had also implemented a holding area to enable officers to thoroughly screen shipments and request re-examination if deemed necessary.

“In fact, since we reintroduce it a lot of containers which are passed through the green channel have been reexamined at the port and the differences have been critical and we’ve given them penalties,” he added.