CBI Court Sentenced Ex-Custom Official 3 Year Rigorous Imprisonment Term with a Fine of Rs.1.20 Lakh

K S Chandrasekhar, a former assistant commissioner of customs at Cochin International Airport’s Air Cargo Complex, has been sentenced to three years in prison for cheating and fraud by a special CBI court in Kerala.

He was also hit with a fine of Rs.1,20,000. The CBI had filed a case against Chandrasekhar and others, alleging that from March to July 2008, the accused conspired with others to fraudulently misappropriate electrical items, including a plasma TV and a music sound system, obtained as a gift from Kuwait for a Thrissur resident.

Chandrasekhar refused to deliver the things to the consignee because the consignee would have to pay duty of more than Rs.1 lakh, which would be more than the price of the commodities, forcing the consignee to discard the items. The said electronic gadgets were declared as used products and were released under the transfer of residence rule after paying a customs charge of Rs.4,635 and claiming a value of Rs.30,000. The electronic devices were delivered to Chandrasekhar’s wife in Bengaluru. Until the CBI seized the things from his home in 2012, the accused used them as his personal belongings.

Chandrasekhar and two private individuals were charged in 2018 before the Court of Special Judge-I, CBI, Ernakulam.

The accused was found guilty by the trial court, while the two private individuals were acquitted.