Ludhiana: Zonal unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Ludhiana, has uncovered a scam in which a company allegedly fleeced the government of crores of rupees by misusing the advance licence scheme.
The company imported duty-free crystalline sugar worth crores on the pretext of exporting it after processing it into glucose. But it sold it within India. The company is alleged to have imported 6,288 tonnes of crystalline sugar and evaded customs duty of about Rs 16.17 crore. After the scam came to the fore, the DRI raided several premises of the company located in Ahmadgarh, Malerkotla and other places and arrested one of the owners, who has been sent to judicial remand.
Sources in the department said, “On the instructions of DRI’s additional director general Nitin Saini, a probe was marked into the case of duty-free imports of crystalline sugar by Shakti API Foods Private Limited, Malerkotla, under advance licence scheme of the DGFT. Under the conditions of the licence, the company was supposed to make liquid glucose from this sugar and export it, but the entire quantity of 6,288 tonnes, worth approximately Rs 11.93 crore, was sold locally in various places, including Meerut. The importer has evaded the customs duty of about Rs 16.17 crore and misused the advance licence procured from the DGFT.”
Sources in the department said, “On the instructions of DRI’s additional director general Nitin Saini, a probe was marked into the case of duty-free imports of crystalline sugar by Shakti API Foods Private Limited, Malerkotla, under advance licence scheme of the DGFT. Under the conditions of the licence, the company was supposed to make liquid glucose from this sugar and export it, but the entire quantity of 6,288 tonnes, worth approximately Rs 11.93 crore, was sold locally in various places, including Meerut. The importer has evaded the customs duty of about Rs 16.17 crore and misused the advance licence procured from the DGFT.”
Sources said, “As part of the investigation, raids were conducted on factories and other premises of the company in Ahmadgarh and Malerkotla, but no trace of glucose was found. Thus, it was established that the company had wilfully diverted the imported sugar instead of fulfilling its obligation of producing and exporting liquid glucose. Rajesh Goyal, who is the export manager-cum-shareholder of the company, was arrested by the DRI team on March 3 in Ludhiana and on March 4, a court sent him in judicial custody.”
The above news was originally posted on timesofindia.indiatimes.com
