The Enforcement Directorate, on November 21, recorded industrialist Vikas Garg’s statement after an eight-hour questioning in connection with an alleged Rs 190-crore customs duty fraud. Garg appeared at the ED’s Mumbai zonal office and was questioned from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The officials had summoned Garg to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a case where several entities are alleged to have evaded customs duty by using forged export documentation.
The investigation is related to the alleged importing of goods duty-free, showing them as exports only on paper, and allegedly diverting them into the domestic market. This has resulted in a loss to the government of Rs 190 crore.
Earlier, the ED is said to have conducted searches under section 17 of PMLA, 2002 in the case of M/s Titan Sea & Air Services Pvt Ltd and others, recorded on the basis of FIR registered by CBI, EO-III, Delhi for creating fake export documents including invoices and shipping bills, to misrepresent goods as being exported to Nepal and Bangladesh, while actually selling them domestically and thereby evaded the custom duty of Rs 190 crore.
The residential premises and business premises of Vikas Garg, one of the key persons behind the evasion of customs duty of Rs. 190 crores and his employees, in whose names the entities were incorporated outside India for effecting imports and exports in their names, were searched on November 12.
# ED Records Statement of Industrialist Vikas Garg in Rs 190 Crore Customs Duty Evasion Probe
In a significant development in an ongoing money laundering investigation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday, November 21, 2025, grilled Mumbai-based industrialist Vikas Garg for over eight hours and recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The interrogation, which lasted from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the ED's Mumbai Zonal Office, marks a key step in the agency's probe into an alleged Rs 190 crore customs duty fraud spanning 2015 to 2017.
## The Alleged Fraud Scheme: A Web of Forged Documents and Diversions
The case originates from a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) EO-III unit in Delhi, accusing Garg and his associates of orchestrating a sophisticated duty evasion racket. At the heart of the allegations is the duty-free import of 1,077.99 metric tonnes of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) resin and betel nuts from Indonesia. These consignments entered India through the Free Trade Warehousing Zone (FTWZ) and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Panvel, Maharashtra, operated by entities like Arshiya FTWZ.
Instead of adhering to export protocols, the accused allegedly fabricated export documents—including invoices, shipping bills, and bills of entry—to portray the goods as being re-exported to neighboring countries like Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. In reality, the materials were diverted to the domestic market, with sales routed to trading firms in Nagpur and Delhi, often through untraceable cash transactions. This misdeclaration allowed the importers to bypass customs duties, anti-dumping levies on PVC resin, and regulatory restrictions under the Plant Quarantine Order and Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) rules for betel nuts, resulting in an estimated Rs 190 crore revenue loss to the exchequer.
The scheme's international layer involved five UAE-based shell companies, including Daqiq General Trading LLC, which issued fake invoices in favor of the Indian importer, Titan Sea & Air Services Pvt Ltd—a Mumbai-based firm linked to Garg. Payments were circularly routed: Indonesian exporters were paid by UAE entities, but no corresponding funds flowed from India to the UAE, raising red flags of hawala-like mechanisms and money laundering.
To execute this, the accused incorporated overseas entities in the names of Garg's employees, further obfuscating the money trail. The ED's scrutiny now extends to potential complicity by Customs and SEZ officials at Panvel, who may have facilitated fraudulent clearances.
## Timeline of the ED Probe
- **2015-2017**: Peak period of alleged imports and diversions.
- **Recent CBI FIR**: Triggers ED's PMLA investigation into the proceeds of the customs fraud.
- **November 12-13, 2025**: ED launches coordinated searches under Section 17 of PMLA at over a dozen locations, including Garg's residential and business premises in Mumbai, Titan Sea & Air Services' office, and properties of implicated employees and entities. Incriminating documents, digital devices, and evidence of import-export manipulations were seized.
- **November 19, 2025**: ED issues summons to Garg for questioning.
- **November 21, 2025**: Garg appears for interrogation; ED records his detailed statement on the flagged financial transactions and his role in the network.
## Garg's Broader Scrutiny: Links to Other Cases
This isn't Garg's first brush with the ED. In April 2025, his name surfaced in the high-profile Mahadev betting app investigation, where he was accused of using proceeds of crime to manipulate share prices of listed companies. Garg, who has been associated with EbixCash Services Ltd. (a subsidiary of US-based Ebix Inc.), was previously raided in connection with foreign exchange violations and hawala dealings. The current probe could intersect with these, as investigators trace hawala routes and benami assets tied to the duty evasion proceeds.
## What's Next in the Investigation?
The ED has not disclosed whether Garg made any admissions during the marathon session, but sources indicate the focus was on unraveling the money laundering angles, including hawala transfers to UAE and cash dealings with domestic buyers. Next steps include deeper forensic analysis of seized devices, interrogation of co-accused employees and UAE firm representatives, and potential attachment of assets under PMLA.
As the probe intensifies, it underscores the ED's crackdown on trade-based money laundering, a growing concern in India's cross-border commerce. Garg and his associates have yet to issue public statements, and the case remains at a preliminary stage.
*This article is based on reports from official sources and media outlets. Developments are ongoing, and all parties are presumed innocent until proven guilty.*
