Hummer, Cadillac, Rolls-Royce: DRI unearths customs duty fraud in high-end car imports

New Delhi: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has unearthed a major customs duty fraud in the import of high-end luxury cars.

Based on specific intelligence inputs, the DRI found that luxury vehicles were imported into India at nearly 50% of their value through deliberate under-invoicing and misdeclaration at Indian ports.

As part of the fraudulent scheme, vehicles originally sourced from the USA and Japan were first shipped to Dubai or Sri Lanka for conversion from left-hand drive to right-hand drive (RHD) and other modifications. After these alterations, the cars were imported into India using falsified documents that significantly undervalued the vehicles, thereby evading substantial customs duties.

The investigation revealed that over 30 luxury vehicles—including premium models such as the Hummer EV, Cadillac Escalade, Rolls-Royce, Lexus, Toyota Land Cruiser, and Lincoln Navigator—were brought into the country using this modus operandi. The importers involved in the scam are based across major cities, including Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, and Delhi. The estimated duty evasion exceeds ₹25 crore.

In a major breakthrough, the DRI has arrested one of the key importers based in Hyderabad, who is alleged to have imported eight such luxury vehicles, resulting in a customs duty evasion of over ₹7 crore. He has been remanded to judicial custody by the Hon’ble Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Court in Ahmedabad.

The DRI continues to investigate other importers and end-users who are suspected to have facilitated or benefited from these fraudulent imports.