Under the Table: DRI intercepts Multi-Million Luxury Furniture Imports
The invoicing process was deliberately manipulated: the actual transactions were masked through shell companies based in Dubai, while fabricated invoices were routed via a Singapore-based intermediary.
In a major crackdown on commercial customs fraud, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has uncovered a multi-crore racket involving the illegal import of luxury furniture through gross undervaluation and fraudulent documentation.Acting on specific intelligence, DRI officials launched coordinated searches at multiple locations, including business premises, warehouses,...
In a major crackdown on commercial customs fraud, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has uncovered a multi-crore racket involving the illegal import of luxury furniture through gross undervaluation and fraudulent documentation.
Acting on specific intelligence, DRI officials launched coordinated searches at multiple locations, including business premises, warehouses, freight forwarder offices, customs brokers, and associated entities. This operation exposed a sophisticated, well-entrenched network operating across several jurisdictions and using shell companies, dummy importers, and fake invoices to smuggle premium branded furniture into India while evading crores in customs duties.
According to the DRI, the investigation revealed that high-end branded furniture was being directly sourced by beneficial owners from reputable Italian and other European suppliers. However, the invoicing process was deliberately manipulated: the actual transactions were masked through shell companies based in Dubai, while fabricated invoices were routed via a Singapore-based intermediary. Dummy importers—essentially entities with no genuine business operations—were then used to falsely declare the goods as unbranded, significantly undervaluing the items when submitting documents to Customs.
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Once cleared, the goods were swiftly transferred on paper to the intended owner using a local intermediary, while the actual products were sent directly to the customer at the behest of the beneficial owner. This layered structure enabled the perpetrators to obscure the true value and origin of the imports, bypassing regulatory scrutiny and evading hefty customs duties.
Preliminary findings point to a staggering 70% to 90% undervaluation of the actual transaction value, resulting in an estimated customs duty evasion of around ₹30 crore. The DRI has identified the beneficial owner, the dummy importer, and the intermediary as key players in the conspiracy. All three were arrested on July 21 and 22, 2025, under provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.
This bust follows a similar case unearthed by DRI in May 2025, which also exposed a network using front companies and similar methods to import luxury furniture at undervalued rates, with duty evasion exceeding ₹20 crore and leading to the arrest of three more individuals.
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Notably, such commercial frauds not only inflict significant losses on government revenue but also create unfair competition for compliant importers and domestic manufacturers.
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