The Tax Intelligence Agency (DRI) discovered a massive customs fraud on Tuesday (July 22) involving the import of high-end luxury furniture.
DRI officials acted with specific intelligence and conducted searches at multiple locations, including commercial premises, warehouses, freight forwarders, customs brokers’ offices, customs brokers and other related entities.
A well-planned network is used to underestimate and falsely announce the brand’s luxury furniture, the survey shows.
The network involves the use of fake importers (IEC holders), intermediaries in India, overseas Shell companies and fake invoices.
According to DRI, the luxury furniture is sourced directly by well-known suppliers in Italy and other European countries. However, the invoices are issued under the name of Shell, which is located in Dubai and other places.
Meanwhile, a Singapore-based intermediary created false invoices for virtual importers, mistakenly declared the items as unbranded and underestimated them for attention.
After the tariff is closed, the goods are shown as goods transferred to the actual beneficiary through the local intermediary, but are actually delivered directly to the end customer.
The initial findings suggest that the goods were underestimated 70% to 90% of their actual prices, causing customs to evade nearly Rs 30 crore.
DRI has identified real importers, virtual importers and intermediaries as key figures in the program. According to the Customs Act of 1962, the three were arrested from July 21 to 22, 2025.
In May 2025, DRI discovered similar frauds involving the level of import of luxury furniture. The case also involved evading taxes of over Rs 20 crore and resulted in the arrest of three people.
