Luxury Cars, Fake Papers, and a Rs 25 Crore Scam: Hyderabad Businessman Caught in High-End Import Fraud
In a major crackdown on customs duty evasion, a Hyderabad-based luxury car dealer has been arrested in Gujarat for his alleged role in a multi-crore scam involving the illegal import of premium vehicles into India. The businessman is accused of using fake documents and undervalued invoices to dodge high customs duties—sometimes by nearly 50% of the vehicle’s actual value.
According to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the accused sourced high-end vehicles from countries like the United States and Japan. These vehicles were rerouted through Dubai or Sri Lanka, where they were converted from left-hand to right-hand drive to comply with Indian road regulations. They were then brought into India using fabricated paperwork to mislead authorities.
So far, officials have traced at least 30 illegally imported luxury cars, including top-tier models like the Hummer EV, Cadillac Escalade, Rolls-Royce, Lexus, Toyota Land Cruiser, and Lincoln Navigator. The estimated loss to the exchequer is over Rs 25 crore.
The arrested businessman alone is believed to have imported eight such vehicles, evading over Rs 7 crore in duties. The DRI has placed several other importers and customers under investigation as the network stretches across cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, and Delhi.
The accused has been remanded to judicial custody as investigations continue into one of the biggest luxury car import scams in recent times.
News Source : Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.
