Mumbai resident Albert Bestonso,the accused in the case of Customs Duty evasion in the import of foreign cars from 2007 onwards,has alleged that the Ahmedabad zonal unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had illegally detaining him. The case is scheduled for hearing in the Ahmedabad Sessions Court on Friday. Albert (37),now in police custody,is accused of assisting the actual importers in evading Customs Duty while importing foreign cars/SUVs such as Land Cruisers and Ferraris for 18 different customers,including film actors Sanjay Dutt and Saif Ali Khan. Albert had imported these cars from his brother Lorenzos UK-based company,Hyperformance Cars Ltd. All the cars were cleared through Chennai and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust. According to Lorenzo,the Ahmedabad DRI picked up Albert from the Ahmedabad highway check post while he was travelling from Mount Abu to Mumbai. Alberts Counsel Asifkhan Pathan said: Summon was served on the road while he was travelling. He was detained the same day. But,the arrest was shown only one day after his detention,which is illegal. Lorenzo then wrote a letter to the Registrar General of the Gujarat High Court urging it to take note of the detention of his brother. The copy of the letter states My brother has been taken by the Ahmedabad DRI officers at the Ahmedabad highway check post while he was travelling from Mount Abu to Mumbai. This occurred at 9 am on October 25. The office of the Ahmedabad DRI had summoned Albert under Section 108 of the Customs Act,1962. The DRI said that Albert has admitted to his role as an operator involved in assisting the actual importers in mis-declaration and undervaluation in the import of foreign cars. According to the DRI,the modus operandi adopted for the evasion of Customs duties included mis-declaration in description of cars SUVs,including under valuation to pay less duties. DRI officials were unavailable for comments.
