KOCHI: Kochi Customs Commissioner K.N Raghavan has issued orders imposing a fine of Rs 90 crore on the 54 accused in the Nedumbassery gold smuggling case in which a syndicate based at Muvattupuzha was involved. Dr Raghavan, who is the adjudicating authority, imposed a fine of Rs 50 crore on P.A. Noushad, the main accused and Rs 20 crore on Jabin K. Basheer, a former civil police officer arrested in the cases. P.A. Faizal, a kin of Noushad, will have to pay a fine of Rs 10 crore. Those in the third ring of the racket will have to pay fine ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.
The customs commissioner also ordered the seizure of gold bars weighing 13 kg recovered from the racket, in addition to confiscating the vehicles they used. It is learnt that the penalties correspond the quantum of offence committed by the accused. The accused can appeal against the verdict in the Appellate Tribunal after remitting 10.5 per cent of their respective fine amounts. An official said that a prosecution in a criminal court will follow the current action. The adjudication order was issued on February 3.
The eight accused, detained under Provisions of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Preven-tion of Smuggling Activ-ities Act (COFEPOSA), have now completed their preventive detention term. The five key accused in the case are also facing forfeiture of their properties with an authority in Chennai ordering this earlier. It is estimated that the Muvattupuzha-based racket had smuggled between 1,700 to 2,000 kilograms of gold to Kerala between 2013 and 2015 .The arrest of one Salim, who landed here from Dubai on May 25 in 2015, triggered the volley of arrests leading to the busting of the racket.
