Mumbai, Jan 9 (FE Online): It’s really a shocking incident. A female flight attendant of Jet Airways has been arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) for allegedly trying to smuggle out USD 4,80,200 out of the country.
The accused girl was intercepted by DRI officials when she was on a flight to Hong Kong on Monday. The DRI officials found USD 4,80,200 (approximately Rs 3.21 crore) wrapped in foil in her possession, the statement said.
Here are top things to know about the shocking case:
She was working with an agent from Delhi’s Vivek Vihar
On investigation, it was found that she was working with an agent, named Amit Malhotra, a resident of Vivek Vihar area of Delhi.
How she met Amit
Amit Malhotra had befriended the Jet Airways air hostess six months ago during a flight to India. Both of them have been arrested.
What was Amit's modus operandi?
-Amit Malhotra was following a modus operandi of using crew members for smuggling of forex.
-Malhotra would collect money from some bullion dealers in Delhi
-Then he used to send it via some air hostess to select foreign destinations.
-The money was being used for purchasing gold abroad
-The gold would then be sent to India illegally.
What DRI officials revealed?
The DRI suspected the role of some other crew members of Jet Airways in smuggling out forex, an official said.
“Malhotra has been illegally smuggling forex for the past over one year. There are some other crew members involved in the case. We are also trying to find out the details of bullion dealers involved in this syndicate,” he added.
Both Malhotra and the Jet Airways crew member have been arrested.
Jet Airways' statement
The Jet Airways has said that it would take further action against the staff member.
A Jet Airways spokesperson said, “During an inspection by a DRI team, a large sum of foreign currency was recovered from an employee of the airline. The employee has been taken into custody. Based on the investigations and inputs from law enforcement agencies, the airline will take further action.” “Jet Airways has a strict code of conduct and zero tolerance towards any action of its employees that contravenes domestic or international laws of the countries in/to which it operates,” the spokesperson added.