The police team probing the alleged forgery of documents by the Kochi-based Trade International, an exporting agency, has found that the exporter had arranged the shipping bills bearing a seal of the Mumbai Customs with the help of a Mumbai-based agency.
Official sources said the company named A&A International, a Customs House Agent in Mumbai, had been engaged in preparing Customs-related documents to exporters across the country. Based on the finding, a police team would leave for Mumbai next week for further probe.
“The police would send the documents produced by Jose George, owner of Trade International, for a forensic examination. If they are found forged, the exporter would be taken into custody and interrogated, apart from registering a case against the Mumbai firm,” said Raj Kumar P., Circle Inspector of Police, Fort Kochi.
TN refinery’s version
Meanwhile, a claim by Mr. George of procuring 10 lakh tonnes of sunflower oil from a Tamil Nadu-based refinery for export has now come under the scanner. A cursory check with the company suggested that it had not given any such consignment to Trade International.
“Preliminary investigations suggested that Mr. George had made a mere query about purchasing 10 lakh tonnes of oil from the company. Though they agreed to give the oil in sealed packets of small quantities, no further correspondence were made in this regard,” sources said.
The case
The case pertains to alleged attempt by the export firm to launder Rs.58 crore under the guise of earnings from export of edible oil to Bulgaria. The money was remitted in the form of a Letter of Credit at the Trade Facilitation branch of SBI on Willingdon Island in the account of the exporter. A few days later, Mr.George, withdrew Rs.30 crore from the account and deposited it with the accounts of his family members.
The fraud came to light when the Customs Department found that the document submitted by the exporter was forged.
