Dollar smuggling case: Customs imposes penalty of ₹4.9 crore on six accused

Customs imposes ₹4.9cr penalty on 6 accused in dollar smuggling case involving ex-diplomat of UAE Consulate. Khaled, Sivasankar, Swapna Suresh, Sarith, Sandeep, Eapen fined ₹1.3cr, ₹65L, ₹65L, ₹65L, ₹65L, ₹1cr respectively for smuggling $1.9L from Thiruvananthapuram airport. Smuggling done as kickback for contract work in Kerala govt's LIFE Mission housing project.

The Customs has imposed a total penalty of ₹4.9 crore on the six accused in the dollar smuggling case involving a former diplomat of the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

As per an order issued by the Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Kochi, under the Section 114 (penalty for attempt to export goods improperly) of the Customs Act, 1962 on October 30, 2023, Khaled Mohamed Ali Shoukry, former finance head of the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, has to remit a penalty of ₹1.3 crore for smuggling foreign currency amounting to $1,90,000 (valued at ₹1.3 crore) to Cairo, Egypt, from the Thiruvananthapuram international airport on August 7, 2019 by concealing it in handbags.

M. Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is the sixth accused in the case has to remit a penalty of ₹65 lakh.

Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the case related to smuggling of gold through the diplomatic baggage of the UAE Consulate at the Thiruvananthapuram airport, who is also an accused in the dollar smuggling case has to pay a similar fine of ₹65 lakh.

Besides Mr. Sivasankar, Ms. Swapna Suresh and Mr. Khaled, the other accused in the case filed by the Customs before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court (Economic Offence), Ernakulam, included P.S. Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate; Sandeep Nair, the fourth accused in the gold smuggling case, and Santhosh Eapen, a builder. Mr. Sarith and Mr. Sandeep have to remit a penalty of ₹65 lakh each, while Mr. Eapen has been slapped with a fine of ₹1 crore.

The Customs stated that Mr. Khaled actively conspired with Mr. Sarith and Ms. Swapna Suresh to smuggle out the foreign currency through the Thiruvananthapuram airport. The latter aided him to ensure a hassle-free security check at the airport by projecting him as a diplomat.

Mr. Sivasankar was well aware of the illegal activities undertaken by the Consul General and the other diplomats in the Consulate and had abetted in all their illegal activities, including the smuggling of foreign currency. The foreign currency smuggled out of the country was generated as kickback given by Mr. Eapen for getting the contract work to build houses under the Kerala government’s LIFE Mission housing project at Wadakkanchery, Thrissur, according to the Customs.