A businessman from Hyderabad was arrested in Gujarat on Thursday for his alleged involvement in a multi-crore customs duty evasion fraud linked to the illegal import of high-end vehicles. The scam involved undervaluing luxury cars imported from abroad - in some cases at nearly 50 per cent of their actual value, officials said.
According to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the businessman used fake documents and undervalued invoices to evade high customs duties.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the luxury vehicles were sourced from countries such as the United States and Japan. They were rerouted through Dubai or Sri Lanka, where the vehicles were converted from left-hand drive to right-hand drive to meet Indian road requirements. The vehicles were then imported into India using fabricated documents.
Officials have identified the illegal import of at least 30 high-end vehicles so far. These include models such as the Hummer EV, Cadillac Escalade, Rolls-Royce, Lexus, Toyota Land Cruiser, and Lincoln Navigator.
The import network spans across Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, and Delhi, with an estimated duty evasion of over Rs 25 crore, officials said.
The accused, who has been sent to judicial custody, has imported eight such vehicles, causing a customs duty evasion of over Rs 7 crore.
Other importers and customers are under the scanner of the revenue intelligence officials, they said.
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