Mumbai Crime: DRI Arrests 31-Year-Old Trader For ₹42 Crore Customs Duty Evasion In 3,630 Metric Tonnes Inshell Walnut Imports From Chile

Mumbai: The officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Thursday arrested a 31-year-old man for allegedly undervaluing and importing 3630 metric tons of inshell walnuts thereby evading Customs duty of Rs 42 crores.

According to DRI sources, an intelligence was developed indicating that Vashi based firm of the accused is engaged in import of "inshell walnuts" from Chile by resorting to gross misdeclaration of its value, and the modus-operandi adopted by the importer involves submission of manipulated invoices instead of furnishing the actual invoices issued by the Chile based overseas supplier.

Based on the intelligence developed, searches at concerned premises of the importer were conducted by DRI officers. "During the course of investigation, various evidences were uncovered in the form of declaration of Chile based overseas supplier which clearly shows that the declared price at the time of imports is highly undervalued," said a DRI source.

"From the investigation conducted so far, it is apparent that the accused is directly involved in the undervaluation of the inshell walnuts being imported thereby evading Customs Duty applicable on the said imports. The import of Inshell Walnuts attracts Basic Customs Duty (BCD) of 100% of Assessable Value. The accused has grossly undervalued the imported goods to the tune of 50-70% in most of the past imports. Using this said modus operandi, the accused has been paying only 30-50% of the actual duty payable on the imported goods, thereby evading more than 50-70% of applicable duty," the source added.

The accused had evaded BCD of more than Rs 42 crores on import of more than 3630 MTs of undervalued Inshell Walnuts through his import firms. "Using this modus operandi, importers after undervaluing the goods, transfer the differential amount using illegal channels such as Hawala transactions. In the instant case, there are possibilities that foreign remittances of huge values might have been remitted abroad using illegal channels such as Hawala transactions," said the source.

"Further, such modus might have been used by other persons relating to the accused in the same Trade Parlance creating a nexus of evading Basic Custom Duty. The details of such other persons need to be unearthed to detect and prevent such mal-practices of under-invoicing/Undervaluation in import of Inshell Walnuts," said another DRI officer.