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Export fraud detected

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI DEC. 28. A group of Delhi-based exporters are on the run after Customs officials zeroed in on them during the past couple of days for making false drawback claims. These exporters have been allegedly fleecing the exchequer by obtaining duty drawback on leather goods they never actually sent out of the country.

Based on information that these exporters were exporting other items but claiming drawback on leather goods, Customs officials began to keep a watch on containers originating from the Capital. This yielded results as officials seized a container at Inland Container Depot, Patparganj, on Thursday.

It is learnt that it was the same suspected group of exporters who had booked the container. An examination of the goods revealed that the container had leather hunters, a product that is not in the list of leather items on which drawback could be claimed.

Yet, there was a chance that the exporters genuinely made an error in understanding the classification in the relevant notification on leather exports. To be sure, officials traced the whereabouts of another container booked by the same group of exporters. This container, sources said, had already been cleared from ICD, Patparganj.

The trace was completed to Mumbai where this container was detained. A search revealed that the container had rags in it, thus, denying any benefit of doubt to these exporters. These traders had wrongly declared that the container had leather goods in it.

Further investigations are on to locate the exporters who were behind the fraud. According to sources, nearly Rs. 15 lakhs have been claimed by these exporters as drawback benefits. This amount, sources added, could well increase as more details are obtained about these traders.

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