The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has unearthed an elaborate customs evasion racket involving the import of premium European luxury furniture.
Acting on precise intelligence inputs, DRI officials launched coordinated searches across multiple cities, targeting business premises, warehouses, offices of freight forwarders, customs brokers, and associated intermediaries.
The investigation has revealed a sophisticated web of deceit orchestrated by a network of dummy importers, shell companies, overseas fronts, and local intermediaries. The operation centered around massive undervaluation and misdeclaration of high-end branded furniture sourced from reputed suppliers in Italy and other parts of Europe.
According to officials, the actual procurement was undertaken by the real beneficiary of the imports. However, the invoices submitted to Customs were routed through a complex chain: first, invoicing through Dubai-based shell companies, and then further manipulated via a Singapore-based intermediary who provided forged invoices in the names of dummy Indian importers. These false invoices grossly undervalued the goods and falsely declared them as generic, unbranded furniture.
Once cleared by Customs at undervalued rates, the goods were shown to be transferred on paper to the real owner through a local intermediary entity. In reality, the luxury furniture was delivered directly to end customers on the instructions of the actual beneficiary.
Preliminary estimates suggest that the undervaluation ranged from 70% to 90% of the genuine transaction value, leading to customs duty evasion of around ₹30 crore. The DRI has arrested the beneficial owner, the dummy importer, and the intermediary under the Customs Act, 1962 on July 21 and 22.
This is the second major case involving luxury furniture imports busted by the DRI this year. In May 2025, a similar fraud involving over ₹20 crore in duty evasion was exposed, also using front companies and fabricated invoices to smuggle branded furniture at undervalued rates.
The agency is now expanding its probe into the wider network of fake IEC holders, shell entities, financial conduits, and masterminds behind these operations. Officials said that such fraudulent practices not only defraud the exchequer but also distort fair market competition, undermining both compliant importers and domestic manufacturers.
The DRI has reaffirmed its commitment to intensifying action against such commercial smuggling rackets and has vowed to continue its offensive against organized customs fraud across sectors.
