The raids were conducted on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI for creating fake export documents, including invoices and shipping bills, to falsely show goods as being exported to Nepal and Bangladesh while actually selling them domestically, thereby evading customs duty of Rs 190 crore.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday again grilled Delhi-based businessman Vikas Garg, who is also the Chairman of Ebix Inc, in connection with a money laundering case tied to a Rs 190 crore customs duty fraud and forgery case.
Earlier, he was questioned for over eight hours last month in the same case. Several employees working for Garg are also under the ED’s radar and have been summoned for questioning in Mumbai. The case involves the alleged illegal import and diversion of betel nuts and other materials by forging export documents, causing losses of crores to the exchequer.
According to sources, Garg is the prime accused in the case and was questioned for over six hours at the ED office by investigators again on Tuesday. Garg’s accomplices and employees were also earlier questioned by agency officials, sources said. During searches at Garg’s premises and those linked to his employees, officials found some incriminating documents.
According to ED sources, the raids that took place on November 12 at the premises and residence of Garg, his employees, and other accused were based on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR that accuses Garg and several others of conspiring to defraud the government through falsified export records and forged customs documents.
Garg, along with his family members, is a promoter of several listed firms including Vikas Ecotec, Vikas Lifecare, Eraaya Lifespaces, and Advika Capital. He recently made news for acquiring the Nasdaq-listed company Ebix Inc.
Garg’s name had earlier surfaced in the Mahadev betting app money laundering case, where ED officials alleged that he received proceeds of crime worth crores from key accused Harishankar Tibrewal.
Investigators also suspect him of manipulating share prices of certain listed companies using illicit funds. Following previous raids in April, Garg was questioned several times in Raipur, and SEBI was asked to probe suspected market manipulation by his firms.
FORGED EXPORTS, DUTY-FREE IMPORTS DIVERTED TO INDIAN MARKET
The latest ED action stems from a CBI FIR filed in 2023 against Garg and seven others, including Titan Sea & Air Service Pvt. Ltd., its directors, and associated companies. The FIR was based on findings from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), which uncovered a large-scale import fraud involving the misuse of Free Trade Warehousing Zones (FTWZ) in Maharashtra.
Sources from the agency said searches were conducted under Section 17 of the PMLA, 2002 in the case of M/s Titan Sea & Air Services Pvt Ltd and others, recorded on the basis of an FIR registered by CBI for creating fake export documents including invoices and shipping bills to misrepresent goods as being exported to Nepal and Bangladesh, while actually selling them domestically and thereby evading customs duty of Rs 190 crore.
The residential and business premises of Vikas Garg, one of the key persons behind the evasion of customs duty of Rs 190 crore, and his employees — in whose names entities were incorporated outside India for effecting imports and exports — were searched on November 12. Incriminating evidence related to imports and exports and digital devices of key persons were seized.
WHAT DOES THE CBI FIR SAY
According to the FIR accessed by India Today TV, Titan Sea & Air Service Pvt Ltd., a Mumbai-based firm headed by Jagannath Rai and Chandra Shekhar Rai, was authorised to import duty-free materials for re-export under Section 7 of the SEZ Act, 2005. Instead, between 2015 and 2017, the company allegedly diverted PVC Resin and betel nuts — imported duty-free from Dubai and Indonesia — into India’s domestic market without paying customs duty.
Investigators allege that the accused forged shipping bills and customs seals to falsely show exports to Nepal and Bangladesh through land customs stations, while the goods were actually sold domestically to Sakshi Marketing Pvt Ltd, Delhi, and other buyers.
The CBI has also named Pradeep Kumar Mittal, a Dubai-based businessman linked to Al Duquq General Trading LLC and Land Star Ltd, UAE, alleging that Garg acted as his associate in India. The FIR further mentions Jitendra Bansal and Brij Mohan Bishnoi of GRC India Logistic, who allegedly helped falsify transport documents to divert the goods.
LOSS TO EXCHEQUER PEGGED AT RS 190 CRORE
Officials estimate that the diversion of duty-free imports caused a loss of approximately Rs 190 crore to the government between 2015 and 2017. The CBI has booked the accused under multiple sections amounting to criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery of the IPC and those of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
