Jewelry Customs Ruse Guilty Plea

An India- and New Jersey-based man who operated jewelry companies in New York City’s Diamond District admitted today to spearheading a scheme to illegally evade customs duties for more than $13.5 million of jewelry imports into the United States and with illegally processing more than $10.3 million through an unlicensed money transmitting business, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Monishkumar Kirankumar Doshi Shah, aka “Monish Doshi Shah, 39, of Mumbai, India, and Jersey City, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and operating and aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From December 2019 through April 2022, Shah engaged in a scheme to evade duties for shipments of jewelry from Turkey and India to the United States. Shah would ship and/or instruct his conspirators to ship goods from Turkey or India – which would have been subject to an approximately 5.5 percent duty if shipped directly to the United States – to one of Shah’s companies in South Korea. Shah’s conspirators in South Korea would change the labels on the jewelry to state that they were from South Korea instead of Turkey or India, and then ship them to Shah or his customers in the United States, thereby unlawfully evading the duty.

Shah would also make and instruct his customers to make fake invoices and packing lists to make it look like Shah’s South Korean companies were actually ordering jewelry from Turkey or India. Shah also instructed a third-party shipping company to provide false information to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) concerning the origin of the jewelry. During the scheme, Shah shipped approximately $13.5 million of jewelry from South Korea to the United States without paying the appropriate duty.

From July 2020 through November 2021, Shah owned and/or operated numerous jewelry companies in New York City’s Diamond District, including MKore LLC, MKore USA Inc., and Vruman Corp. Shah used these entities to conduct more than $10.3 million in illegal financial transactions for customers, including converting cash to checks or wire transfers. Shah would also collect cash from customers and use other individuals’ jewelry companies to convert the cash into wires or checks. At times, Shah and other members of the money transmitting business moved hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single day. In exchange for their services, Shah or other members of the money transmitting business charged a fee. None of Shah’s or his associates’ companies were registered as money transmitting businesses with New York, New Jersey, or the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

As part of his plea agreement, Shah agreed to pay restitution to CBP in the amount of $742,500 for the wire fraud scheme and forfeiture in the amount of $11.13 million for the wire fraud and unlicensed money transmitting schemes.