Three businessmen arrested for evading 30 crore duty on high-end Italian furniture imports
The three accused were identified as Falgun Yogendra Shroff, owner of Di Lusso Furniture LLP, Sambhaji Bhosale, proprietor of Sam Furniture & Electronics, and Manoj Rai, proprietor of Divine Enterprises.
The trio were accused of importing high-end furniture from brands like Poltrona Frau, Ditre Italia, Fendi, Minotti, Giorgetti, and others using shell companies and dummy Importer Exporter Codes (IECs). These companies, falsely declared the goods' value as one-tenth of their actual market price, DRI said. To mask the true value and brands, fake invoices and fabricated Gmail IDs were used to issue under-invoiced proforma invoices from shell companies in Dubai and Hong Kong.
Bhosale used his Import Export Code (IEC) to bring in branded furniture under the guise of unbranded or low-value items. The goods were then transported directly to Di Lusso's warehouse in Bhiwandi, bypassing the supposed intermediary, Divine Enterprises. Rai's firm existed only on paper and was used to create a fictitious supply chain, masking the direct link between the importer and the actual beneficiary. The invoices used for customs clearance were reportedly fabricated abroad by an associate firm, Kler Impex Pte Ltd, based in Singapore.
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Sujay Kantawala appearing for the accused in the court denied the charges.
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