‘India→Korea’ Gold Product Origin Falsification Export Gang Arrested Through Korea-US Cooperation

A group involved in exporting Indian gold products disguised as Korean-made to the United States has been apprehended.

On the 15th, the Korea Customs Service announced that Indian national Mr. A (the main suspect) and two Koreans (accomplices), who imported Indian gold products into Korea and then disguised them as Korean-made before exporting them to the United States, were caught through cooperation between Korean and U.S. authorities.

Provided by Korea Customs Service

According to the Korea Customs Service, from 2020 to 2021, Mr. A and others imported 94,036 pieces of Indian gold accessories (worth approximately 26.7 billion KRW at market value) into Korea and re-exported them to the U.S. without processing, only changing the country of origin labels.

During this process, it was also discovered that about 870 gold products (worth approximately 2.7 billion KRW at market value) bearing counterfeit famous foreign brand names such as Chanel were illegally imported and exported.

Investigations revealed that Mr. A and his group changed the country of origin to evade the 5.5% U.S. tariff that would apply if gold products were directly exported from India to the U.S. They exploited Korea’s FTA, which grants a preferential tariff rate of 0%.

To carry out the crime, the main suspect Mr. A, residing in India, established a corporation in Korea and instructed accomplices to launder the country of origin of the gold products imported into Korea and export them. The Korea Customs Service explained that he also planned and led the crime, including operating gold product sales businesses in the U.S.

Gold counterfeit products seized from Mr. A and his group are displayed at Seoul Customs. Photo by Korea Customs Service

Regarding the crimes of Mr. A and others, Seoul Customs, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), investigated the actual entities of importers in the U.S. and secured evidence by confirming Indian gold products seized by U.S. customs, revealing the full extent of the crime.

In addition, in November of last year, two Korean accomplices were sent to the prosecution without detention. However, the main suspect Mr. A was residing in India and the U.S. and did not cooperate with the investigation, making it impossible to apprehend him initially.

Accordingly, Seoul Customs shared investigation results with U.S. investigative agencies and, in cooperation with HSI, succeeded in arresting the Indian main suspect. Mr. A was recently arrested by HSI and has been indicted.

A Korea Customs Service official stated, “Cases of using Korea as a base for laundering country of origin to evade trade barriers of developed countries have been increasing recently,” adding, “The Korea Customs Service plans to strengthen cooperation and crackdowns with overseas investigative agencies to ensure that Korean products and companies do not suffer disadvantages due to country of origin laundering.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.