ISLAMABAD: The Fede­ral Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday notified the structure of the anti-benami regime to deal with white-collar crime in the country.

The FBR issued an office order for the establishment of Directorate General-Anti Benami Initiative (DG-ABI), elaborating functions and responsibilities of the new office. Director General of Directorate General of Intelligence & Investigation Asim Ahmad was given the additional charge of DG of the new office.

To combat the menace of benami, the government has enforced the Benami Tran­saction (Prohibition) Act 2017, which has been dormant since February 2017.

The need for the new office is felt after it has been observed that benami transactions have become one of the biggest economic and financial threats currently camouflaging the rampant corruption in the country, since all the anti-corruption agencies have so far failed to trace and document real/beneficial owners and, as a result, criminals got off scot-free.

The white-collar crime investigation agency will have two distinct streams of functions — independent authorities and supporting administrative oversight. The FBR will provide all kind of support to the newly launched regime.

Under the anti-benami act, detailed description, pow­ers and function of various authorities are already notified. The jurisdiction and appointment of field authorities at Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi have been notified by the FBR.

Through the office order, the FBR assigned field benami authorities some support function as well. The initiating officer of complaints will be in BS-18 and the approving authority in BS-20, who will be administrative and financial heads of the benami zone. The adjudicating authority will be a BS-21-22 officer, who will adjudicate references filed by the initiating officer.

In order to facilitate the authorities and ensure efficient and effective implementation of the anti-benami law, the office of DG-ABI is being raised. The DG-ABI will provide certain support to anti-benami zones and act as a bridge between the zones and the FBR. The office will also provide logistics support, financial back-up and autonomy and capacity building for anti-benami zones. The DG-ABI will also work as a contact point for all external agencies interacting with the FBR in benami-related matters.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2019