Walnut importer arrested for Rs 24.4cr duty evasion

Ahmed Ali

Mumbai: Customs officials have uncovered an alleged undervaluation racket involving the import of “in-shell walnuts” from Chile by Rich Valley Dryfruit Private Limited, leading to suspected duty evasion of around Rs 24.4 crore. The Special Intelligence and Investigation Branch (Import) on Tuesday arrested the director of the importing company. It had launched a probe based on intelligence inputs that the importer had misdeclared the transaction value in the Bills of Entry filed before Customs. Investigators recovered sales contracts, proforma invoices, WhatsApp chats, and Chilean export documents allegedly showing the actual walnut prices ranged between $2.29 and $3.93 per kg, against declared values below $1.9 per kg.

Officials said the material gathered during the investigation prima facie indicated deliberate suppression and gross misdeclaration of the true value of the imported goods with an intention to evade customs duty.