Kochi: Swapna Suresh shared with top officials a large portion of the last commission of Rs 97 lakh that she got from accused K T Ramees for smuggling gold, investigating agencies looking into the Trivandrum airport gold smuggling case have found.
The commission amount was for the gold that was smuggled just before the racket was busted on July 5.
Swapna used to usually share the commission amount equally with co-accused P S Sarith and Sandeep Nair. The investigating team suspect she changed this practice for the gold that was smuggled just before she and the others were arrested and that she paid a huge amount from the commission she received to officials at the top.
It believes that Sandeep Nair's confession before the magistrate will reveal the names of these officials. Sandeep has moved an application in court expressing his desire to become an approver in the case.
Was Swapna also cheated?
Swapna had made Ramees’ gang believe that the UAE Consul General had to be paid $1,000 as commission for every kilogramme of gold smuggled and another $1,000 had to be paid to her. Swapna would thus receive $2,000 (Rs 1.47 lakh) for every kg of gold smuggled and another Rs 50,000 as handling charge for each smuggled consignment. She would then share the whole amount equally with Sandeep and Sarith.
The investigators have, however, learnt that the quantity of gold that Ramees smuggled each time was more than what he revealed to Swapna and her group. Swapna realised this only when details of the consignment that was seized emerged. Swapna was told that this parcel would contain 10 kg of gold. However, officials found 30 kg of gold hidden in the diplomatic baggage.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) estimates that gold was smuggled 21 times in all through the diplomatic channel. Only Ramees knows how many kilogrammes of gold was actually smuggled.
Customs to file FEMA case against Swapna
The Customs Department will file a case against Swapna under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in the wake of its finding that Swapna had helped smuggle $1.90 lakh (Rs 1.38 crore) abroad.
The department's report states that Swapna had used the identity card of the UAE Consulate for this purpose.