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Customs team to probe Sam Avia case

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI MAY 9. A special team has been constituted by the Customs to investigate threadbare the operations of Sam Avia, the cargo operator charged with fraud for allegedly using forged letters in the name of the Kazakhstan Embassy here to obtain permission to use Indian air space.

The four-member team would be headed by the Deputy Commissioner (Preventive), New Customs House. It would look into almost every flight operated by Sam Avia. The focus would be on the cargo declared and the destination specified in the documents filed by the trader concerned.

In a preliminary report prepared by the Customs on Sam Avia, the authorities had found nothing incriminatory about the cargo operator's activities. Since Sam Avia was only a carrier and not a trader, officials said, there was not much in terms of documents available with the Customs.

In fact, it was not till the Delhi police registered a case of forgery did the Customs authorities realise that there was a shady background to the cargo operator in question. The company has always been considered "reputed'' and touted a major player in plying non-scheduled flights.

After the Delhi Police case, the Customs dug out old records in an attempt to profile Sam Avia. They found that the operator has been ferrying goods for an assortment of exporters, many of which are apparently well-known firms. Most of its flights were to CIS countries and Russia. In all, initial inquiries have not revealed much with most documents found to be in order.

Since the Customs usually focuses more on the traders involved, officials believe that a detailed investigations from other angles could be of help. The special team would take up different aspects like the freight charges being offered by Sam Avia to its clients in more detail. It would take about six weeks for the team to completely investigate the matter and submit a report, said sources.

Meanwhile, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence is already looking at a case, pending for over six years now, where the same cargo operator had been found not delivering its cargo at the declared destination and, instead, dropping it off at Dubai. This could have serious ramifications as those goods were exported under the Indo-Russian Rupee-Rouble Trade Agreement. The case is yet to be finalised against Sam Avia on this count.

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