The Enforcement Directorate’s investigation into Delhi-based businessman Vikas Garg has deepened, with officials focusing on what they describe as a large-scale customs duty evasion scheme built on forged export documents and diversion of duty-free imports into India’s domestic market. Garg, chairman of Ebix Inc. and promoter of multiple listed firms, spent more than seven hours under ED questioning on Friday as part of a money laundering probe that stems from a 2023 CBI FIR.
The FIR accuses Garg and seven others — including Mumbai-based Titan Sea & Air Service Pvt Ltd and its directors — of misusing Free Trade Warehousing Zone provisions to bring in betel nuts, PVC resin, and other materials duty-free on the pretext of re-exporting them. Instead, investigators allege, the goods were diverted into the domestic market between 2015 and 2017, with forged transport papers, invoices, shipping bills and customs seals used to fabricate evidence of exports to Nepal and Bangladesh. Officials say the consignments were actually sold locally to buyers such as Delhi-based Sakshi Marketing Pvt Ltd.
The scheme, uncovered by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and later taken up by the CBI, allegedly caused a customs duty loss of roughly Rs 190 crore. The CBI booked the accused under sections related to conspiracy, cheating and forgery, as well as the Prevention of Corruption Act. The ED then registered its own case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, prompting searches on November 12 at locations linked to Garg, logistics operators and suspected intermediaries.
Investigators have also flagged the involvement of Dubai-based businessman Pradeep Kumar Mittal — associated with Al Duquq General Trading LLC and Land Star Ltd — alleging that Garg acted as his associate in India. Logistics operators Jitendra Bansal and Brij Mohan Bishnoi of GRC India Logistics are accused of arranging falsified transport documentation to show the movement of goods supposedly meant for export.
Garg’s name has surfaced in other enforcement matters as well, including the Mahadev betting probe, where officials earlier accused him of receiving illicit funds from alleged bookie Harshankar Tibrewal. In parallel, Sebi has been asked to examine suspected manipulation of share prices in companies linked to him.
With employees and associates already questioned, the ED is now piecing together fund flows, identifying shell companies allegedly used to layer proceeds of crime, and reconstructing the financial trail underlying the duty-free diversion scheme. Officials indicated that Garg may be called again as the agency continues to map transactions tied to the alleged Rs 190 crore loss to the exchequer.
