In a shocking revelation, Sri Lanka Customs said it had unearthed a massive scam of evading millions of rupees as taxes by two BOI Approved companies in the textile industry that had imported over 300 containers during the last few years without paying duty.


A senior Customs official said that the investigation had been conducted for the past few weeks where the detectives have found that the perpetrators had imported various types of fabrics and garments as raw material to manufacture their end product.


The two BOI approved companies are based in Kurunegala and the Customs had learnt that they have never exported the manufactured goods back to the respective destinations but had sold within the country.


The estimated amount of taxes and the loss of revenue to the government because of this violation of BOI regulations, was yet to be ascertained, officials said.  


The case, which had been investigated for sometime in discreet, was ordered to be exposed to the media on a directive made by the Customs Director General Jagath P Wijeweera due to the magnitude of the scam. (Kevin Kariyawasam)