Washington:

An Indian jeweler has been indicted for illegally evading taxes on millions of dollars worth of jewelry imported into the United States and operating an unlicensed money transfer business, a U.S. prosecutor said.

Monishkumar Kirankumar Doshi Shah (39), who lives in Mumbai and New Jersey, was arrested over the weekend and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge André M Espinosa in Newark federal court on February 26. Appear in court.

Shah, alias “Monish Doshi Shah,” was released on $100,000 bail and was placed on home detention and location monitoring.

He was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of operating, aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money transfer business.

Documents show that from January 2015 to September 2023, Shah participated in a tax evasion scheme that shipped jewelry from Turkey and India to the United States.

He would ship or direct his co-conspirators to ship goods from Turkey or India to one of Shah’s companies in South Korea, and the goods would be subject to tariffs of about 5.5 percent if shipped directly to the United States, the people said.

Federal prosecutors allege that Shah’s co-conspirators in South Korea would illegally evade duties by changing labels on the jewelry to show they came from South Korea, rather than Turkey or India, and then shipping them to Shah or his customers in the United States.

He would also create and direct clients to create fake invoices and packing lists to make it appear that Shah’s Korean company was actually ordering jewelry from Turkey or India.

Prosecutors say Shah shipped millions of dollars worth of jewelry from South Korea to the United States as part of the scheme.

From July 2020 to November 2021, Shah allegedly operated numerous so-called jewelry companies in New York City’s Diamond District, including MKore LLC (MKore), MKore USA Inc. (MKore USA), and Vruman Corp (Vruman).

He used the entities to conduct millions of dollars in illegal financial transactions for clients, including exchanging cash for checks or wire transfers, documents say.

Shah would also collect cash from customers and use the conspirators’ jewelry business, also located in the Diamond District, to convert the cash into wire transfers or checks.

Documents say Shah and his co-conspirators sometimes moved more than $1 million in cash in a single day. In exchange for their services, the Shah and his conspirators charged a fee.

Prosecutors said none of Shah’s or his co-conspirators’ companies were registered as money transfer businesses in New York state, New Jersey or with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

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