The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has uncovered a large-scale customs fraud involving the import of high-end luxury furniture.
The racket, which operated through a sophisticated web of dummy firms and forged documentation, is estimated to have caused customs duty evasion of around Rs 30 crore, based on preliminary findings, the Ministry of Finance said in a release on Tuesday.
The investigation, launched on specific intelligence, led to coordinated searches across multiple cities at the premises of businesses, warehouses, freight forwarders, customs brokers and other associated entities. What emerged was a carefully crafted modus operandi involving dummy importers, shell entities overseas and fabricated invoices, all designed to systematically undervalue premium furniture imports and evade duty, it said.
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According to the DRI, the furniture was procured directly from reputed suppliers in Italy and other European countries by the actual beneficiaries. However, the transactions were routed through shell companies based in jurisdictions like Dubai.
These entities issued original invoices, which were concealed from Indian Customs. Instead, undervalued and falsified invoices were generated by a Singapore-based intermediary in the name of dummy Indian importers. The goods were falsely declared as unbranded and significantly cheaper items to Customs authorities.
Once customs clearance was obtained based on these misdeclarations, the goods were transferred on paper to a local intermediary created solely to facilitate the final handover. However, in practice, the furniture was directly delivered to end customers as per the instructions of the beneficial owner.
The scale of undervaluation — between 70% and 90% of the actual transaction value — has resulted in substantial loss to the exchequer. The DRI has found conclusive evidence of collusion between the beneficial owner, dummy importer, and intermediary, who have all been arrested.
In May 2025, a similar racket was exposed by the DRI, where another front company was used to evade over Rs 20 crore in duties on imported luxury furniture. That case also led to the arrest of three key individuals.
The DRI is now expanding its investigation to trace the broader network of shell companies, fraudulent Importer Exporter Code holders, masterminds, and financial trails underpinning these fraudulent operations.
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