Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Sept 6: A Joint Director General of the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and two other people have been charged by the Central Bureau of Investigation with soliciting and receiving sizable bribes from consultants in exchange for issuing new import and export licences as well as renewals.
The individuals accused in the FIR have been identified as BN Ramesh, Joint Director General of Foreign Trade at the Regional Authority, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in Visakhapatnam, Sreebhashyam Venkata Ranganathan, Section Head at JDGFT, Penmatsa Sitarama Raju, Managing Director, Kireeti Indenting & Exim Services Pvt. Ltd. in Hyderabad, and unidentified individuals.
In the FIR, it is alleged that the DGFT Regional Authority office in Visakhapatnam works to support exports and imports as well as the growth of trade ties with various other countries. A number of Indian businesses are receiving several licenses from the DGFT, including the Import Export Certificate, Export Promotion of Capital Goods (EPCG), Export Obligation Discharge Certificate (EODC), etc.
According to credible information provided to the CBI, the Joint Director General of Foreign Trade (B. N. Ramesh) and the Section Head of Office (Sreebhashyam Venkata Ranganathan) of the JDGFT are demanding and amassing sizable bribes from the consultants of the DGFT in exchange for the issuance of new import export certificates, their renewals, and other related licenses through consultants or conduits.
Sita Rama Raju, the managing director of Kireeti Indenting and Exim Services Pvt. Ltd. in Hyderabad, informed Sreebhashyam Venkata Ranganathan, the section head, on August 3 that seven additional files are still pending at the JDGFT Office in Visakhapatnam P., while 18 files pertaining to M/s. Pattabhi Agro Foods Private Limited have been cleared. Sreebhashyam Venkata Ranganathan was additionally informed by Sita Rama Raju that he will be visiting Visakhapatnam on September 5 to deliver the bribe.
On the specified date, he received the bribe payment of Rs. 4 lakh in exchange for clearing the files for the client companies of Kireeti Indenting & Exim Services Pvt Ltd., Visakhapatnam, including Jayaraj Fortune Packaging Pvt Ltd., Guntur, Blue Sea Foods, Sailaja Agro Foods, Pattabhi Agro Foods Pvt. Ltd., and others.
A senior CBI official confirmed that a case has been filed in this regard.
