A forgery case was reported at the Regional Revenue and Customs Office (RRCO) in Phuentsholing. In the incident that happened in June, an Indian man had forged customs declaration form and signatures for release of Indian Rupee through bank demand drafts.
The man, under a license belonging to a Bhutanese, has withdrawn almost Nu. 4 million through the forged documents. The forged declaration forms were all for tax-free grocery items. The case was forwarded to customs office after the bank official became suspicious of the signature on the form. Upon verification, it was found out that the signature was forged and also declaration form numbers belonged to different private companies.
While the Indian man involved is at large, the Bhutanese person who holds the business license has denied having any hand in the case. The owner has been charged of bogus import by the customs office. The owner is liable to pay a fine of 50 percent of the declared amount. However, since the owner failed to do so, the case was forwarded to the Revenue and Customs head office in Thimphu towards the end of last month.
Meanwhile, the trade has cancelled the license as a case of fronting.
