CBI registers 3 corruption cases against 18 customs officials and 5 exporters for fraudulent duty drawback

MUMBAI : In a major crackdown on corruption, the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) Mumbai unit has booked 35 persons, including 24 customs officers, in three separate cases of alleged bribery, misconduct and cheating. All three cases pertain to the allegedly fraudulent clearance of disbursal of export duty drawback worth ₹8.78 crore to around 34 firms based on bogus export claims.

The cases were registered on Monday on the basis of complaints by a CBI officer who conducted preliminary inquiries. All the accused customs officers served at the Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House (JNCH) in Nhava Sheva.

The first case dates back to June-September 2017, when 14 customs officers (eight superintendent of customs and six preventive officers) allegedly conspired with five businessmen associated with 14 private firms to cheat the government exchequer of ₹4.04 crore. The accused allegedly prepared, filed and processed 100 bogus/forged shipping bills in the name of the 14 firms without any physical movement of goods or examination of actual documents/containers, said a CBI source.

The container numbers in the bogus bills were allegedly fraudulently inserted in the Export General Manifest by the private accused persons. They were shown as goods exported from JNCH, which resulted in the fraudulent disbursement of duty drawbacks worth ₹4.04 crore to 14 firms, the source added.

The second case dates back to the April-June 2017 period, when nine customs officers allegedly conspired with five businessmen associated with 20 private firms to cheat the government exchequer of ₹4.74 crore. The accused allegedly prepared, filed and processed 93 bogus/forged shipping bills in the name of the 20 firms and passed the Let Export Orders for these bogus/forged shipping bills. Container numbers from the bills were then allegedly fraudulently inserted in the Export General Manifest by the private accused persons and the goods were shown as exported from JNCH, resulting in the fraudulent disbursement of duty drawbacks worth ₹4.74 crore to 20 firms.

The third case pertains to a customs inspector (preventive officer) tasked with investigation and intelligence gathering related to misuse of export benefits. Between August and September 2017, the officer allegedly learned about fraudulent claims on duty drawbacks by a syndicate led by a Navi Mumbai businessman and demanded ₹1 crore as bribe for not parting with export documents related to the bogus/forged shipping bills. Later, he allegedly agreed to accept ₹25 lakh from the businessman, in addition to ₹10,000 per bogus shipping bill to be submitted in future.