Libya’s Customs Authority refutes conspiring with hard currency smugglers but admits that about US$ 1.04 bn were smuggled abroad by overvaluing imports.
The rebuttal came in a video recording on the Customs Authority’s social media page after a regular political discussion programme on Libyan TV accused its personnel of co-conspiring in the smuggling of hard currency outside the country.
This smuggling is achieved by Customs Personnel clearing goods at ports that are vastly overvalued and imported solely for the purpose of smuggling currency abroad.
However, the Customs Authority insisted that the prevention of this smuggling cannot be placed purely at its doorstep. They reminded that it is the banks that accept the pro-forma and final invoices that put a value to imported goods.
The Customs Authority admitted that there have been some cases where its personnel were accused of co-conspiring with hard currency smuggling via the import of overvalued goods, but it says these have been referred to the investigative and judicial authorities.
They reminded that goods at ports are inspected by a committee of five or six people from the various specialist authorities – and not just customs personnel.
