A Mumbai man who operated multiple jewellery firms in the United States has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for evading customs duty on jewellery imports and running an unlicensed money-transmitting business, reported PTI on Friday. He will remain in supervised release for two years after completion of his prison sentence.
Monishkumar Kirankumar Doshi Shah (40) who used to operate multiple firms in New York, was found guilty of evading customs duty on jewellery items worth more than $13.5 million (equal to ₹116.55 crore).
Earlier, he pleaded guilty before US District Judge Esther Salas to a two-count information, charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to acting US Attorney Vikas Khanna, he was also charged with operating, aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
Apart from the prison term, the judge has also asked for repayment from the guilty to the amount of $742,500 for the wire fraud scheme and forfeiture of $11,126,982.33 for the wire fraud and unlicensed money transmitting schemes.
Evaded duties for shipments from Turkey and India to US between 2019-22
As per the court documents, Shah used to change the course of his jewellery items’ shipments to Turkey and India to evade customs duty between December 2019 and around April 2022.
He instructed his co-conspirators to ship goods from Turkey or India to his company located in South Korea. According to PTI, he would have been subject to approximately 5.5 per cent duty if those items were shipped directly to the US from India or Turkey.
After receiving the items in South Korea, his confidantes would make fake invoices and change the labels on the items to state that they were from South Korea instead of India or Turkey.
Federal prosecutors said these items were later shipped to his customers in the United States, thereby unlawfully evading the duty. He would also ensure that the items transported from India/Turkey to South Korea, appeared legitimate, hence he would instruct his customers to make fake invoices and packing lists.
