Controversial businessman Moosa Bin Shamser. The photo is taken from his Facebook page

The Customs Intelligence yesterday summoned controversial businessman Moosa bin Shamsher to appear before a committee which is looking into his alleged involvement in using a vehicle registered with fake documents.

The office under the National Board of Revenue asked Shamsher to submit a statement and documents in self-defence on April 20. “We have issued a notice to give him the opportunity to defend him,” said Moinul Khan, director-general of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID).

According to Khan, the directorate has brought three specific charges against him: duty evasion through forgery, money laundering and corruption.

The directive came two days after the CIID seized a Range Rover from Dhanmondi by chasing it from morning to afternoon.

The car was brought from the UK in 2010 under a duty-free benefit termed Carnet de passage on condition of re-exporting it after a certain period, the CIID found during preliminary investigation.

Carnet de passage is a permission given to foreigners to bring cars from abroad to Bangladesh and use it for a specific period of time.

Instead of re-exporting, the vehicle was registered with Bhola office of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) under the name of Faruq-uz-Zaman Chowdhury from Pabna using fake documents, said the CIID.

The registration was obtained by showing a payment of Tk 17 lakh as duty, based on a bill of entry that does not exist in the records of Chittagong Customs. The car was also not found in the possession of Chowdhury, according to the directorate. The Customs Intelligence also asked Chowdhury and officials of BRTA responsible for registering the vehicle in Bhola to appear before the inquiry committee on April 20.

“Our records show that the car was silver in colour when imported. But it was registered as white, and found to be black in colour,” Khan added.

Shamsher is the chairman of manpower recruiting agency DATCO. When contacted on March 21, ATM Mahbub Morshed, deputy general manager of DATCO, said, in an emailed statement, the chairman has been using the car on rent from Faruq-uz-Zaman since August 2015.

The chairman's family members also used the vehicle, said Morshed.