Export fraud of Rs20 crore; ED to quiz three accused

A Delhi court has allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to quiz in custody for four days three persons accused of claiming export incentive of Rs20 crore from government by exporting allegedly cheap and inferior quality redaymade garments.

District and sessions judge PS Teji allowed ED to question accused Harish Chaudhary, Pradeep Kumar Manglik and Harmesh Arora till November seven to unravel the alleged export scam. Naveen Kumar Matta, counsel for ED, said the accused set up 32 export firms by using fictitious names.

They used to carry out fraudulent exports of apparels at grossly over invoice price to avail fraudulent export incentives in the form of duty draw back, Matta charged. The court, meanwhile, sent remaining three accused -- Sarfaraz Ahmed, Bhopal Singh and Gopal Sharma -- to judicial custody till November 11.

Earlier, six accused were arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on unearthing of alleged fraud relating to fictitious firms and taking undue benefit to the tune of Rs20 crore from the customs department in the form of duty drawback.

Subsequently, ED came in the picture and registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on October 29 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to trail the illegal cash flow.   For the first time after the PMLA came into being in 2002, ED has been allowed to question offenders in its custody.
   
The accused, during their custodial interrogation by DRI, allegedly confessed to their involvement in making bogus export firms. Most of the allegedly fake firms bear the addresses either of Delhi or adjoining areas, the ED said.

They also allegedly admitted cheap and inferior quality were overpriced and exported to claim crores of rupees as duty drawback from the government.