Abdul Monem Sugar Refinery, a subsidiary of Abdul Monem Group, has imported 1 lakh 65 thousand tons of unrefined sugar in six months under the bond facility. These sugars are supposed to be released from the bonded warehouse after paying about Tk 520 crore of customs duty. But the company illegally sold the sugar in the open market without informing the bond commissionerate. As such allegations have been proved, the company has been fined 49 crore rupees. This money should be deposited in the government treasury within the next 15 working days.
Commissioner of Customs Bond Commissionerate, Dhaka (South) Khaled Mohammad Abu Hossain gave this order on Wednesday. This information is known from the sources of National Board of Revenue (NBR).
However, it has been claimed by Abdul Monem Sugar Refinery that the bond was not misused in this case. They say that more than 1000 crore rupees have been paid to NBR for RD.
According to the judgment given by the Dhaka South Bond Commissioner, Abdul Monem Sugar Refinery is a home-consumption bond company. According to the Customs Act, while importing as home-consumption establishments without payment of duty, raw sugar is imported by in-bonding in the bond register and warehousing in bonded warehouses. Bonding period of this sugar is six months. Under the terms of the bonded licence, the ex-bond declaration is redeemed to meet domestic demand by paying the duty applicable on the sugar imported into the bonded facility as per law.
But Abdul Monem Sugar Refinery Bond Commissionerate alleged that imported sugar was illegally removed and sold in the open market. In view of this, a delegation of the Commissionerate visited the institution on April 23. At this time, it can be seen that there is no sugar in the bonded warehouse. However, till April 23, the company has imported 1 lakh 65 thousand 484.99 tonnes of sugar through 60 bills of entry under the bond facility. This sugar was imported from July 16, 2022 to August 16, 2023, with a dutiable value of Tk 978 crore 79 lakh 56 thousand 890. In which the applicable customs duty (customs duty, regulatory duty, VAT and advance tax) is 520 crore 58 lakh 4 thousand 350 taka. When the officials of the delegation asked the company officials about the non-stocking of sugar in the bonded warehouse, they did not get any reply. Bond officials believe that sugar has been illegally removed and sold to evade customs duty. Bonded License Conditions and Bonded Warehouse Licensing Rules have been violated in the Customs Act. Consequently, interest on the duty evaded by the organization will be applicable from the date of expiry of the bonding period in addition to the duty applicable.
It is learned that a show cause notice was issued to the company on April 28 this year due to illegal removal of raw materials and evasion of customs duties. The company responded in writing on May 11. That said, imported raw sugar is stored in bonded facilities. Raw materials imported into bonding facilities against their establishments since the issuance of bond licenses have been covered by ongoing cases and show-cause notices. As a result the said sugar is shown in the show cause notice. So it takes time to collect all the documents including Asayakuda World and prepare the answers and verify the long accumulated warehouse inventory. Otherwise they will suffer irreparable damage. They need three months to reply to the notice and attend the personal hearing. On June 23, July 24 and August 15, extension of time was requested thrice citing the same reason.
Abdul Monem Sugar Refinery Chief Executive Officer Kazi Nazmul Hasan and Head of Commercial Azizur Rahman Chowdhury attended the last hearing held on September 23. Bond officials present at the hearing said the company had cleared imported raw sugar from warehouses without any X-bonds or by evading customs duties. There is breach of condition, so that applicable customs duty with interest is recoverable. However, a written reply was given on behalf of the institution in the hearing. Company officials admitted that the raw materials were removed without payment of duty. They requested not to impose penalty. They questioned that the regulatory duty on this sugar is not appropriate according to the Customs Act. But he did not raise any question about the regulatory duty in the custom house.
The bond commissioner reviews the company’s statements, case documents, show cause notices and charges brought against them. As the complaint was proved, the company was fined Tk 49 crore according to the Customs Act. At the same time, he issued a court order with 15 days to pay a total of Tk 569 crore 58 lakh 4 thousand 350 applicable as fine and customs tax. Apart from this, interest will be applicable on the duty evaded as per the bonding period of the raw material.
NBR has also found evidence of misuse of bond facility by the institution. On April 24, NBR ordered the suspension of import-export activities of all the business groups including Abdul Monem Sugar Refinery due to non-payment of tax evasion of Tk 674 crore 35 lakh by misuse of bond facility. Apart from this, instructions were given to the managers of the concerned banks to freeze all other accounts including the current account of the institution.
Abdul Monem Group Managing Director ASM Mohiuddin Monem told Samakal that he does not know the details yet. However, Azizur Rahman Chowdhury, Head of Commercial of Abdul Monem Sugar Refinery, said that there was actually no misuse of bonds here. Over Rs 1,100 crore has been paid to NBR for RD. A request has been made to coordinate with the tax collector to claim the amount. But NBR did not take it into consideration.
