CBI Gets Custody Of Economic Offender Monika Kapoor, Who Fled To US In 1999

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday took the custody of economic offender Monika Kapoor, an accused in an import-export fraud who had fled to the US more than 20 years.

A flight carrying Kapoor is expected to land in India on Wednesday night, officials said.

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York had cleared her extradition under the bilateral extradition treaty between India and the USA.

She fled to the US in 1999 after the alleged fraud, where she, along with her two brothers -- Rajan Khanna and Rajiv Khanna -- forged documents for a jewellery business. These documents were allegedly used to obtain licenses from the Indian government to import raw materials duty-free.

The alleged fraud caused a loss of more than USD 6,79,000 to the Indian exchequer.

India had approached the US seeking Kapoor's extradition in 2010.

Multi-Crore Fraud Case

Monika Kapoor, who was the owner of a firm named "Monika Overseas", along with her two brothers prepared fake shipping bills, invoices and fake export documents for banks in 1998. Through these fake documents, they obtained six 'replenishment licenses' from the government, which allowed the purchase of duty-free gold worth about Rs 2.36 crore.

They then sold these licenses at a premium to Deep Exports, an Ahmedabad-based firm, which used them to import duty-free gold.

Due to this irregularity, the government suffered a loss of about Rs 1.44 crore.

CBI's Actions

The CBI filed a charge sheet against Monika Kapoor and her brothers, Rajan and Rajiv, in 2004 upon completion of the investigation.

As Kapoor did not join the investigation and trial, she was declared a proclaimed offender in 2006.

A red corner notice was also issued against her in 2010, the same year CBI sought help from the US authorities.

The local court in Delhi convicted Rajan and Rajiv in 2017.

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