Ernakulam court sentences export company owner to 3 years RI in Red Sanders conspiracy case
Hyderabad: The Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Ernakulam has sentenced an accused Yousuf, Proprietor of Suweihan Exporting at Desamangalam in Thrissur to three years’ Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) with fine of Rs.1 lakh in a case related to conspiracy to cheat Department of Customs by attempting to export prohibited item – Red Sanders.
The CBI had registered a case on November 30, 2012 against three accused including said accused Yousuf and others on allegations that during the year 2012, accused entered a criminal conspiracy with another accused to cheat Customs Department by attempting to export Red Sanders, an item prohibited for export under the Export-Import policy.
In pursuance to the conspiracy, accused preferred shipping bill before the customs officials, knowingly and fraudulently mis-declaring the item being exported as “Coir Pith Blocks”, attempted to export 7750 Kgs of Red Sanders logs valued Rs. 77.50 lakh.
These items were kept concealed in the declared export cargo of Coir Pith. The accused induced the customs officials to clear the consignment from the customs area without confiscating the same. Subsequently, the said consignment was intercepted at Vallarpadam International Container Transhipment Terminal by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials and their examination of the consignments resulted in the recovery of said items.
After the completion of investigation, a charge sheet was filed on March 10, 2014 against two accused including convicted accused. However, both the chargesheeted accused absconded. Later, Yousuf was arrested on June 21, 2023 and a trial commenced against him. The Court, after trial, found the accused guilty and sentenced him accordingly.