CBI arrests 5 superintendents and 2 Customs House Agents in Rs.2.38 Crore Bribery Case

The Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) has arrested five superintendents of Customs for allegedly accepting over Rs 2.38 crore bribe over many years by authorising illegal import of commodities on passports of people who were staying abroad by the provision of “transfer of residency” under the Customs Act. Superintendents Kumar Alok, Keshav Pandhi, Hemant Gethe, Brijesh Kumar, and Dinesh Kumar were detained, as were two Customs house agents, Deepak Parekh and Ashish Kamdar.

CBI has registered 06 separate cases against then 6 Superintendents of Customs, Mumbai; two CHAs and other unknown persons on allegations that the said public servants conspired with CHAs at various times during their posting at UB Centre, JNCH and misused the provision of “Transfer of Residence” under the Customs Act. It was alleged that the said syndicate used passports of various individuals who had stayed abroad for more than two years, particularly in Gulf countries, to import various items including household items, electronic items, and other unknown items by first undervaluing the goods and then concealing some other undeclared items alongside the other declared items.

It was also claimed that the products imported should have been ideally brought for the individual whose passport was declared before Customs, but the things were actually imported for many other people who had settled overseas and were still living there. The passport holder allegedly received Rs.15,000/- in exchange for enabling his passport to be used. It was also claimed that the syndicate used this method in collusion with Customs officers who were involved in examining/clearing and providing ‘out of charge’ of the associated consignments. The alleged kickbacks paid to these Customs officers in lieu of clearing such unlawful consignments were roughly Rs. 2.38 crore.

Searches were carried out at 19 locations in the premises of the accused and their associates in Mumbai, Delhi, Ghaziabad, Jaipur, Motihari (Bihar), Kurukshetra, and Rohtak, resulting in the discovery of several incriminating documents/articles.

The arrested accused appeared before the Special Court, CBI Cases at Alibagh, District Raigarh (Maharashtra) and were remanded in police custody for 5 days.