Deepak Manghani,a resident of Greater Kailash-I in Delhi and Director of M/S Alcome Perfumes and Cosmetics,tried to take 350 perfume bottles concealed in 15 packets out of the Noida SEZ clandestinely in his Mercedes Benz. Date: January 6,2011.
Vishnu Gupta,proprietor of V-Tech Computers at the Noida SEZ residing in Punjabi Bagh,and Jaikishan,a resident of Karampura and authorised signatory of the company,mis-declared goods to evade duty on 2.4 lakh 2 GB memory cards worth Rs 3.5 crore. Also recovered from the duo were 3,000 watch casings and batteries worth Rs 1.62 lakh,besides 1,000 watches worth Rs 2.40 lakh. Date: December 8,2010.
Vikash Garg and Praveen Jindal,partners at Aparna Fashions,tried to take away 14 packets containing plastic buttons,besides five packets containing 125 kg of a light green substance,suspected to be synthetic diamond powder worth Rs 5 crore. Date: December 2,2010.
These are some of the cases that came to light as the Customs Department tightened its noose around the Noida Special Economic Zone (NSEZ). Due to the liberal procedures,rules and policies created to promote the SEZ scheme,it has became the face of tax evasion and money laundering.
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Investigations conducted last year into the Great Jharkhand Loot,allegedly involving former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda,revealed a bigger scam concerning fictitious trade in gold and diamonds.
At least five new cases have come to light since December last year,as acted upon by Customs officers deputed at the Noida SEZ on specific intelligence inputs,despite the liberal 2006 SEZ rules,which make it imperative for the department to accept the declarations submitted by importers without any authority to examine the consignments.
On being intercepted and interrogated by Customs officials on charges of clandestine removal of goods in his car, Deepak Manghani admitted that he was taking the goods (worth Rs 70,000) out of the zone without any valid documents.
Vishnu Gupta and Jaikishan were charged with mis-declaration of imported goods with the intent to evade Duty and goods not related with the units authorised operations. The company voluntarily paid a duty amount of Rs 15.41 lakh on December 10. In the case of Aparna Fashions,the company voluntarily paid Rs 7 lakh as duty.
According to Mahendra Ranga,Additional Commissioner of Customs (Air Cargo Exports),such detections are very difficult in the liberalised SEZ environment,where the department is required to accept the declaration of the importers without examining the consignments. These,however,help genuine members of the trade by removing distortions that unscrupulous elements generate in the industry. The SEZ scheme and its related systems and procedures have been formulated with a liberal outlook aimed at facilitating honest trade, Ranga told Newsline.
The 2006 SEZ Rules clearly state that the assessment of imports and domestic procurement by a developer or a unit shall be on the basis of self-declaration and shall not be subjected to routine examination,except in case of procurement from the Domestic Tariff Area under the claim of export entitlements… provided that where,based on prior intelligence the examination becomes necessary,the same shall be carried out by authorised officer(s) after obtaining written permission from the Development Commissioner or the specified officer.
Apart from this,the Customs officials posted in the zone are tasked to ensure that unit are genuinely involved in the export-import business,and value addition (manufacturing) is being carried out at the SEZ.
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