On Friday (March 11), the Faridabad police informed that an export-import firm of businessman Harish Ahuja has been duped of ₹27.61 crores. Ahuja is the father-in-law of Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor.
As per reports, the fraudsters had misappropriated the Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (ROSCTL) licences of Harish Ahuja’s ‘Shahi Export Factory’ using his forged digital signature. Thereafter, funds to the tune of ₹26,61,00,000 were transferred fraudulently to a fake company named ‘Black Curve Incorporation.’
Faridabad Deputy Police Commissioner Nitish Aggarwal explained the government provides incentives to export companies through ROSCTL licenses that in turn can be used to get rebates in duties and taxes. He added that the said licenses are similar to digital coupons and are worth lakhs of rupees.
DCP Aggarwal pointed out that the miscreants had obtained a total of 154 ROSCT licenses, which were meant for ‘Shahi Export Factory’ and were worth ₹27.61 crores. The accused then encashed the amount by transferring the licenses to other fake companies operated by them.
#सोनमकपूर के ससुर ( हरीश आहूजा ) की #शाही_एक्सपोर्ट कंपनी से 27 करोड़ 61 लाख की साइबर ठगी करने वाले 9 आरोपी गिरफ्तार
— People’s Police – Faridabad Police (@FBDPolice) March 11, 2022
ठगों ने पहले बनाई एक फर्जी कंपनी,
फिर
हरीश आहूजा बनकर 27 करोड़ 61लाख के कूपन #ठगो ने फर्जी कंपनी में कर लिए थे ट्रांसफर। @police_haryana
The Faridabad police informed that a total of 9 people have been arrested in connection to the case. The accused men have been identified as Praveen, Manoj Kumar, Manish Kumar, Lalit, Manish Kumar Moga, Ganesh Parsuram, Rahul Raghunath, Bhushan Kishan, Santosh Sitaram and Suresh Kumar.
They were nabbed from different parts of the country, including Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The last arrest was made on December 23, 2021. DCP Aggarwal said that the police had been working on the case, following a complaint by Harish Ahuja last year.
It has come to light that four of the accuse, namely, Manoj Rana, Manish Kumar, Praveen Kumar and Manish Kumar Moga, worked as former employees and clerks at the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). Their knowledge of the technicalities helped them secure codes of big export-import firms and ascertain the value of ROSCTL licences.
Husband of Sonam Kapoor accused of evading tax and duties
Earlier in February this year, the International shipping company MyUS outed actor Sonam Kapoor’s husband, Anand Ahuja, for using doctored invoices to avoid paying taxes and custom duty. In a series of tweets in reply to Ahuja’s complaint on Twitter, MyUS mentioned the problem was not with their services but with the documents Sonam’s husband had provided.
Anand Ahuja, on January 27, had tweeted and questioned if anyone had contacts in MyUS as his shipment was delayed. He wrote, “Does anyone know someone at MyUS – I have had HORRIBLE experience recently. They are holding items improperly, rejecting formal paperwork & refusing to acknowledge any reasoning.”
Initially, the company had replied to Ahuja and said they had limited resources on Social Media accounts and advised Ahuja to contact via email or chat. The Bombay Times then picked up the story and published an article on Sonam and Anand’s ordeal. However, after the article was published, MyUS, too, took to Twitter to clear the air.
MyUS had clarified, “This is not a matter of customer service quality, new policies, or holding items improperly as was tweeted. Mr Ahuja misrepresented the price he paid for sneakers purchased on eBay, which would result in him paying fewer duties and taxes.”
The shipping company added that the invoices attached had up to 90% less value mentioned compared to what he had paid for the goods. Ahuja then took to Twitter again to allege that MyUS refused to validate the PDF receipts and bank statements and accused them of trying to overcharge him and hold his goods for long.
