Singapore citizen held for multi-crore international trade scam

In a major breakthrough, Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police has arrested a Singapore citizen and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Mukesh Gupta, 67, for orchestrating a multi-crore international trade fraud involving forged shipping documents and fake Bills of Lading (BLs).

Gupta, managing director of Amrose Singapore Pte. Ltd., was arrested under multiple sections of the IPC on the charges of cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust, and criminal conspiracy.

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The case was registered on a complaint filed by Chaudhary Timber Industries Pvt. Ltd. (CTIPL), a long-term business partner of Gupta, who had entered into an agreement with his firm for the import of timber from New Zealand.

Payment was made via Letters of Credit (LC) through Indian Bank, Singapore. However, it later emerged that Gupta had submitted forged Bills of Lading and fabricated shipping documents to the bank to falsely claim that goods were shipped.

The forged documents that were forwarded to Bank of India’s CP Branch in Delhi resulted in the release of approximately Rs. 10 crores.

The EOW seized the original forged documents from the Bank of India and pursued the accused, who repeatedly evaded investigation under the pretext of medical issues. Gupta was eventually apprehended on April 22 following which he was granted one-day police custody on April 29 and later remanded to judicial custody until May 14, the cops mentioned.

During interrogation, Gupta gave evasive and misleading answers. In a confrontation involving the complainant and the shipping agent’s authorized representative, it was confirmed that the company’s name and seal had been fraudulently used.

His modus operandi involved fabricating fake shipping and insurance documents, using the names and seals of Asia Maritime Pacific Ltd., Arnav Shipping Pvt. Ltd., and Vero Insurance to deceitfully secure payments from Indian banks against LCs, without shipping any actual goods.

The High Commission of the Republic of Singapore in New Delhi has been informed about Gupta’s arrest as per diplomatic protocols.