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Big names, big companies and big brands, all involved in scams and fraud. If they think they can run from the law forever, it is just a mere expectation, not reality. After Axact’s fake degree scandal, another business hub of Karachi, Iqra University has come under scrutiny.
According to reports on Pakistani TV channels, Iqra University has come under direct scrutiny after deceiving the government for almost 10 years. Apparently, in front of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Karachi’s Iqra University was a Non-Profit Organization (NGO), which meant all its profit generated from the tuition fees etc, went to charity.
Iqra University, which calls itself the ‘best’ and ‘biggest’ university of Pakistan, has been wronging the country for 10 years, not paying its taxes. If an organization is Non-Profit, non tax is levied upon it. The owner of the University, Hunaid Lakhani, a renowned business tycoon, has been blamed for the mess created.
Even though the University was spared by the FBR, the scam out in the open when the Inland Revenue department stepped in and claimed that all documents provided by Iqra University on the counts of being an NGO were fake and forged. This meant that the University had been fooling FBR for 10 years, or there was a secret agreement between the two which helped Iqra University save up a lot of money in terms of not paying the vied tax.
The FBR, on the suggestion of Inland Revenue, then raided the university and collected records of the last 10 years. Thus, all profit made by the university in last 10 years will be accounted for and Iqra University will have to pay whatever amount is due. The FBR might even slap the university with an additional fine of fraud.
The university which is home to extremely bright students who make up post of the private market in Karachi, has been defamed after the incident. However, the university has not been shut down and students will continue their degrees in the new semester.
