Indian-origin man gets 30-month jail for customs duty evasion on jewellery in USA

The Indian-origin man was identified as Monishkumar Kirankumar Doshi Shah, a/k/a “Monish Doshi Shah” (Shah), 40, of Mumbai, India and Jersey City, New Jersey.

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He previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas to a two-count Information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and operating and aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business.

Judge Salas imposed the sentence in Newark federal court and remanded Shah to begin serving his sentence.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court in or around December 2019 through or around April 2022, Shah was engaged in a scheme to evade duties for shipments of jewellery from Turkey and India to the United States.

"Shah would ship and/or instruct his co-conspirators to ship goods from Turkey or India—which would have been subject to an approximately 5.5% duty if shipped directly to the United States—to one of Shah’s companies in South Korea," read a statement issued by the US Attorney's Office/District of New Jersey.

Shah’s co-conspirators in South Korea would change the labels on the jewellery to state that they were from South Korea instead of Turkey or India, and then ship them to Shah or his customers in the United States, thereby unlawfully evading the duty.

Shah would also make and instruct his customers to make fake invoices and packing lists to make it look like Shah’s South Korean companies were actually ordering jewellery from Turkey or India.

Shah also instructed a third-party shipping company to provide false information to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) concerning the origin of the jewellery.

During the scheme, Shah shipped approximately $13.5 million of jewellery from South Korea to the United States without paying the appropriate duty.

In addition, from in or around July 2020 through in or around November 2021, Shah owned and/or operated numerous jewelry companies in New York City’s Diamond District, including MKore LLC, MKore USA Inc, and Vruman Corp. Shah used these entities to conduct more than $10.3 million in illegal financial transactions for customers—including converting cash to checks or wire transfers.

Shah would also collect cash from customers and use other individuals’ jewelry companies to convert the cash into wires or checks.

At times, Shah and other members of the money-transmitting business moved hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single day.

In exchange for their services, certain members of the money-transmitting business charged a fee.

"None of Shah’s or his associates’ companies were registered as money transmitting businesses with New York, New Jersey, or the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)," the statement said.