New Jersey Jeweler Admits to Avoiding Duties on Jewelry Imports From Turkey, India

Monishkumar Kirankumar Doshi Shah, who owned jewelry companies in New York City , pleaded guilty Sept. 10 to leading a scheme to "illegally evade customs duties for more than $13.5 million of jewelry imports" into the U.S., the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced. Shah, a resident of Jersey City, New Jersey, and Mumbai, also admitted to illicitly processing over $10.3 million through an "unlicensed money transmitting business."

From December 2019 to April 2022, Shah imported jewelry from Turkey and India into the U.S., telling his co-conspirators to first ship the goods to South Korea. If shipped directly, the goods would face a 5.5% import duty. The conspirators in South Korea would alter the labels on the jewelry to say they came from South Korea.

Shah also told his customers to "make fake invoices and packing lists to make it look like Shah's South Korean companies were actually ordering jewelry from Turkey or India." He additionally told a third-party shipping firm to submit false information to CBP on the origin of the goods.

In all, Shah shipped around $13.5 million of jewelry from South Korea to the U.S. "without paying the appropriate duty" and used his three companies in New York to carry out over $10.3 million in illegal financial transactions for customers, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Shah agreed to pay $742,500 in restitution for his wire fraud scheme and $11.13 million in forfeiture for the wire fraud and "unlicensed money transmitting schemes."