Pakistan’s tax authority has seized its first immovable assets under the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 2017, as part of an intensified campaign to uncover untaxed wealth and improve documentation of the economy.
The Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) Anti-Benami Initiative (ABI) confiscated two residential plots in Islamabad’s Pakistan Employees Cooperative Housing Society (PECHS) after investigators determined the properties were held under a fake name using a misused computerised national identity card (CNIC).
The plots, 168-A measuring 816 square yards and 174-A measuring 991 square yards, were registered to a front person, or benamidar, whose link to the properties could not be established.
The actual owner denied any connection to the properties and was not registered with the tax authority. After a detailed inquiry, the case was taken to the Benami Adjudicating Authority Bench-I in Islamabad, which ruled in favour of FBR’s Benami Zone-I. A formal order for confiscation was later issued.
The seizure was carried out with support from local law enforcement, following the completion of all required legal procedures.
This marks the first successful property confiscation by the FBR under the 2017 legislation, and signals a broader push by the government to clamp down on benami holdings, assets held under another person’s name to hide ownership, and tackle white-collar financial crimes.
The FBR established three dedicated Anti-Benami Zones in July 2019 to identify and act against such assets.
These units operate under the Directorate General ABI and have so far filed more than 187 references related to hidden ownership of properties, vehicles, bank accounts, land and shares.
Benami Zone-I, Islamabad, oversees cases across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Rawalpindi civil division and the Islamabad Capital Territory.
