CBI probes hawala route used by customs officials for bribe | India News – Times of India

MUMBAI: The tainted money transfer through illegal hawala channels is not only the ‘favourite’ route of lawbreakers but also those implementing the rules. The CBI is investigating the network of hawala operators who had helped six customs superintendents to deliver their bribe money near their native places across the country. The CBI suspects more customs officials adopted a similar modus operandi to deliver their bribe money and is probing them along with the hawala operators.
Recently, the CBI searched the premises of a customs clearing agent, Deepak Parekh, and his assistant (nephew) Ashish Kamdar. While examining their mobile details, the CBI found messages and evidence related to payment of bribes via hawala. The CBI had registered six different cases against customs superintendents, and recently arrested five of them.
The CBI also arrested Parekh and Kamdar, who are common accused in all the cases while one customs superintendent, Vinod Kumar, gave CBI the slip.
The CBI found that mostly Kamdar would look after themoney transfer through hawala after coordinating with the accused customs officials. Kamdar would confirm the delivery. The agency found the discussions between Kamdar and the accused officials related to hawala payment on his mobile chat messages. During the examination of his bank accounts along with Parekh, the CBI found they had also made payments from their accounts to unrelated persons who were known to the accused customs officials.
The six accused superintendents were posted at Nhava Sheva port at different points of time between 2020 and 2022, and had helped Parekh to import goods by misusing ‘transfer of residence’ rules and undervaluing the items in exchange for bribes. Parekh also would arrange hawala operators to deliver the bribe money to relatives-friends of theofficials according to their request. “It was a win-win situation for the agents as well as corrupt officials, at the cost of causing loss to the government,” said a source.
The source added: “The customs officials would also ask the agent to pay some small amount of bribe money through banking channels into accounts of their relatives-friends. It shows that they were confident that they would never get caught. ”
The CBI said the customs clearing agent had accomplices in Gulf countries. Whenever persons settled in Gulf countries who want to send bulk goods to India by avoiding customs duty, seek help from Parekh, he would obtain passports of persons, mostly labourers, who have stayed in those countries for more than two years, by paying them Rs 15,000 each for allowing them to use their passports. Parekh would file baggage declaration form by claiming the benefit of the ‘transfer of residence’ clause which exempts duty payment on the value of goods below Rs 5 lakh. He would undervalue the goods and import them in the name of various passport holders in the guise of household items.