New Delhi: Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police arrested Angad Pal Singh, a businessman, in connection with a massive Rs 30.47-crore export fraud involving forged foreign inward remittance certificates (FIRCs). Singh was taken into custody on June 2 after being deported from the US. Singh, who helped his father in the business of auto spare parts, was earlier arrested by Central Bureau of Investigation in another fraud case and was later handed over to EOW for his role in this export scam.Police said a case was registered in 2017 on the complaint of a private bank. The complainant reported that 467 fake FIRCs were submitted to the bank by their 18 account holders (17 firms) during the processing of their export documents. The fake FIRCs were for the period from Sept 26, 2013, to Oct 21, 2015.“Upon receipt of the FIRCs, the bank issued bank realisation certificates (BRCs) to the account holders, who availed trade (export) benefits from the office of Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the foreign trade policy. All these FIRCs, which ran into crores of rupees, were purportedly issued from a bank at Bhikaji Cama Place,” police said.Under the foreign trade policy, exporters are entitled to two key benefits: duty drawback and scrips. Duty drawback is directly credited to the exporter’s account by the customs department once the goods are successfully exported through designated ports or depots. The second benefit, scrips, is provided by DGFT as an incentive for exporters, allowing exemption from import duties.“These scrips are issued only after the exporter receives payments and submits the necessary documents to an authorised dealer bank. Upon verification, the bank will issue a bank realisation certificate, which the exporter will present to DGFT to claim the benefits,” police said. The investigation revealed that Singh, along with his father Surinder Singh and brother, owned five firms and managed the affairs of these companies with them. “They created forged FIRCs and obtained benefits of duty credit scrips worth Rs 30.47 crore and sold them in the open market,” DCP (EOW) Vikram Porwal said. The remittance was shown to be received at a bank. They opened bank accounts in a private bank and processed the documents in conspiracy with bank employees. When the complaint was filed, they fled the country.
