Customs seizes gold worth over Rs 1 crore at Mumbai airport

Gold dust seized at Mumbai airport. Photo/ANI

Customs authorities at Mumbai airport have confiscated 2 kilograms of gold dust, valued at over Rs 1 crore, from an Indian family arriving from Singapore. The gold dust was hidden in the undergarments of a couple and their three-year-old child, according to the Mumbai custom officials.

The seizure was made based on profiling by Mumbai Airport Customs officers on September 12, 2023.

"Based on profiling, Officers of Mumbai Airport Customs on September 12, 2023, seized 24 KT Gold Dust weighing 2.0 kgs from an Indian family travelling from Singapore. The gold was concealed by the two passengers in their inner garments and the diaper of their three-year-old child," said the official.

On Wednesday, September 13, Police booked the manager of a spa located at Mumbai Airport, accused of fraudulent activities involving a QR code manipulation that resulted in the embezzlement of Rs 48 lakh, according to a police official.

The accused purportedly tampered with the QR code situated on a billing desk designated for online payments, diverting the funds into his own account, PTI reported. Authorities claim that the spa manager reconfigured the QR code to redirect payments to his personal account, thereby siphoning off a substantial sum amounting to Rs 48 lakh.

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Upon receiving a tip-off regarding irregularities in financial transactions, a senior official from the spa company conducted an internal audit, bringing this fraudulent activity to light. Subsequently, the accused spa manager was dismissed from his position, and his access card to the airport premises was revoked.

Based on the complaint filed by the company official, an FIR was registered on Monday, and the accused manager may face charges under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 420, which deals with offenses related to cheating and dishonesty.

Meanwhile, on September 11, cyber cell of the Oshiwara police arrested a 26-year-old in connection with a cyber fraud scheme. The accused, Riyazuddin Abdul Subhan, allegedly cheated people across the country through a scam involving tasks related to online sharing and investment.

The investigation into the matter began after a 30-year-old businessman fell prey to the cyber scam and was defrauded of Rs 6.75 lakh last month. The police managed to trace Subhan's bank accounts with the help of KYC (Know Your Customer) documents associated with them. The accused was located in Assam but was apprehended in Worli on Friday.

Subhan is believed to be a lower-level cog in the machine, acting on the instructions of a mastermind. He created a fake company named Asif Enterprises and opened current accounts in two well-known banks to deposit money obtained through cyber fraud. During the investigation, the police discovered that one of the current accounts, held in a multinational bank in Assam, had a closing balance of Rs 1.15 crore, while the other account, in a different bank but in the same firm's name, had a balance of Rs 1.21 lakh. With the assistance of a nodal officer, the police immediately froze the accounts, preventing the loss of about Rs 1.36 crore.

Further investigation revealed that Subhan, along with an associate in Assam, had been working for the scamsters for the past two years. They had created multiple fake current accounts under various bogus company names and were responsible for depositing money obtained from victims, totalling around Rs 5 crore. Subhan received a commission of R1 crore for each account, and he was also responsible for transferring the fraudulent funds to the mastermind. The police investigation aims to identify and apprehend other individuals involved, including the mastermind behind the operation. (With inputs from Agencies)