Chennai, February 24 – A Special CBI Court has sentenced a man who possessed multiple passports to four years' imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 20,000, according to an official on Tuesday.
The case, investigated by the CBI, came up before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore, Chennai, on Monday, the official said in a statement.
The Special Court convicted and sentenced Ubaidullah alias F. Hameed alias Ubaithullah Khan Faizal to imprisonment for forgery and obtaining multiple passports.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered the case on December 31, 2018, on the allegation that the accused, Ubaidullah, obtained multiple passports in fictitious names by impersonating himself and submitting forged documents with dishonest intent.
The original complaint alleged that Ubaidullah had travelled abroad using fake passports, thus obtaining them to cheat the Customs Department.
While boarding a flight to Singapore, he was apprehended by Customs officials at Chennai International Airport for illegal possession of foreign currencies equivalent to Rs 36.74 lakh, without any legal permission, the CBI said.
The accused had also provided false and suppressed information with the intention of obtaining passports from the passport authorities, the CBI said.
Following the completion of the investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet against the accused on March 13, 2020.
In a separate case, the CBI arrested a long-absconding Proclaimed Offender, Sarit Vij alias Sarat Kumar Vij, last month in connection with a fraud involving the Customs Department worth Rs 58 lakh. A reward of Rs 10,000 had been announced for information leading to his arrest, the agency said in an official statement.
The CBI had registered the case on June 1, 1999, against Joseph Kuok, then Superintendent at the Inland Container Depot (ICD), Tughlakabad, Delhi, and other accused, for allegedly cheating the Customs Department of approximately Rs 58 lakh.
During the investigation, the role of Sarit Vij emerged. He was a partner in the firm PS International, which had allegedly filed false duty drawback claims with the Customs Department, fraudulently seeking a refund of around Rs 19 lakh. Following the completion of the investigation, Vij was chargesheeted along with other co-accused.
However, after the filing of the chargesheet in 2003, Sarit Vij failed to appear before the court and remained absconding throughout the trial. Despite sustained and persistent efforts by the investigating agency, he could not be traced for several years.
After completing all prescribed legal formalities, the court declared Sarit Vij a Proclaimed Offender on January 30, 2004. Subsequently, a reward of Rs 10,000 was announced for information leading to his whereabouts and arrest.