Slug: fesco-ceo-tax-evasion-rs320m-case
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SEO title: Fesco CEO tax evasion: booked in Rs320m case
Meta description: The FBR has booked Fesco CEO Muhammad Amir Pannu and his three sons over alleged tax evasion and money laundering worth more than Rs320 million.
Tags: Fesco, tax evasion, FBR, Muhammad Amir Pannu, money laundering, Faisalabad, business news, Inland Revenue
Original element: own data point — case lands amid FBR enforcement push (our Rs9.41bn wealth-fraud case, PM’s FBR reforms warning, IMF fair-tax workshop) + explainer on the Directorate of Intelligence & Investigation and the “gifts” asset-parking route
Fesco CEO booked in Rs320m tax evasion, money laundering case
TOBA TEK SINGH: The Federal Board of Revenue’s intelligence wing has opened a Fesco CEO tax evasion case against Faisalabad Electric Supply Company chief executive Muhammad Amir Pannu and his three sons, involving alleged tax evasion and money laundering worth more than Rs320 million.
The Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation Inland Revenue, Faisalabad, registered the case on the basis of a first information report that accuses the family of converting evaded taxes into assets through gifts and property purchases made in the names of the CEO’s sons.
The three sons — Muhammad Hadi, Muhammad Saad and Muhammad Ibrahim — have been named in the case along with other related persons. The case has been registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2010.
Fesco CEO tax evasion: what the FIR alleges
According to the FIR, taxes allegedly evaded during 2025 and 2026 were turned into assets. The money was parked through gifts and property bought in the names of the chief executive’s sons.
The report also alleges that cash amounts declared in earlier years were altered in asset declarations. In his tax declaration for 2014, Pannu reportedly declared Rs3.5 million in cash. That figure was later shown as Rs733 million, even though his declared income for that year stood at just Rs1.139 million.
The FIR further alleges that gifts worth billions of rupees were declared in the names of his sons during 2025 and 2026. The purchase of agricultural land and other assets in Faisalabad and Chiniot forms part of the investigation. According to the report, the original sources of the assets were concealed through changes to asset declarations and the movement of funds.
How the “gifts” route works
Declaring large transfers as gifts to family members is one of the oldest methods used to park unexplained wealth in Pakistan. Tax law allows genuine gifts between close relatives, but investigators treat declared gifts as suspicious when they do not match the declared income of the person giving or receiving them.
This is where the 2014 declaration becomes central to the case. A jump from Rs3.5 million in declared cash to Rs733 million, against a declared income of Rs1.139 million, is exactly the kind of mismatch the Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation was set up to pursue. The directorate works separately from the regular assessment machinery and focuses on suspected fraud, concealment and laundering.
CEO denies wrongdoing, vows to contest
In his response, Fesco CEO Amir Pannu said the matter concerned his inherited properties, the value of which had been declared as taxable income. He said he would contest the case registered by the Federal Board of Revenue.
A signal amid FBR’s enforcement push
The case has surfaced at a moment when the tax machinery is visibly tightening its grip. Feature Pakistan earlier reported that the FBR unearthed a Rs9.41 billion wealth fraud and registered a money laundering case in connection with it. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has separately warned tax officers that resistance to FBR reforms will not be tolerated, while the International Monetary Fund has pressed Pakistan to build a fairer, broader tax system.
For Fesco, which distributes electricity across the Faisalabad region, the case also raises governance questions about the leadership of a public utility at a time when the power sector is under pressure to cut losses and improve recoveries.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Muhammad Amir Pannu?
He is the chief executive officer of the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco), the power distribution company serving the Faisalabad region.
What is he accused of?
The FBR’s intelligence directorate has accused him and his three sons of tax evasion and money laundering involving more than Rs320 million, allegedly converting evaded taxes into assets held in his sons’ names.
What happens next?
The case has been registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2010. Pannu says he will contest the charges. Investigations into the declared assets in Faisalabad and Chiniot will continue.
