ATTOCK, Jan 9: A Rs14 million property tax scam has been detected during the special audit of the account of tehsil municipal administration (TMA) Fatehjang for year 2005-06, it has been learnt.

It is the second fraud the TMA was involved in. A similar fraud case of millions of rupees was detected a few months back in which the TMA collected tax from the local shopkeepers on the duplicate/fake receipt books.

The sources at the TMA said that special audit team found receipts of property tax issued in connection with sale/transfer of property in the tehsil tempered showing a misappropriation of Rs14 million in 2005-06, the year when the TMA had not awarded contract for collection of property tax.

Giving an example, the sources said one such receipt mentioned the tax amount as Rs8,500 whereas the TMA collected Rs850,000.

The audit team after unearthing the scam refereed the case to Punjab government for further action, the sources maintained.

A preliminary inquiry by the Tehsil Municipal Officer (TMO) Fatehjang confirmed that three officials of finance department of the TMA including former Tehsil Officer (TO) Finance and two Tax Inspectors were involved in the fraud.

He sent the inquiry report to the district coordination officer (DCO) Attock for further necessary action in this regard, the sources said.

The matter had also been taken up by the Anti-corruption Department on the report of an intelligence agency, the sources said.

According to media reports and the TMA record, the former TO Finance, presently working in Iqbal Town municipal administration Lahore on the same post was also allegedly involved in the tax fraud case.

However the former TO Finance TMA Fatehjang Mohammad Ashhab in his statement said he had nothing to do with the tax collection as it was the duty of relevant staff, but the inquiry officer turned his plea down as he could not provide solid facts and evidence to prove his innocence.