From Harrods To Horror

Louis Vuitton bags, Calvin Klein dresses, apart from all the jewellery how Sheetal Mafatlal landed...

From Harrods To Horror

Louis Vuitton bags, Calvin Klein dresses, apart from all the jewellery how Sheetal Mafatlal landed...

Retail therapy proved anything but therapeutic for Sheetal Mafatlal. She spent a fortune on bags and dresses at Harrods in London (see Shopping bag).

The same clothes and accessories, along with 40-odd pieces of assorted diamond-studded gold jewellery, worth over Rs 53 lakh in total, did her in at Mumbai airport on Sunday.

There's good ol' retail therapy and then there's shopping that can get you in trouble.

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Sheetal Mafatlal shopped to her heart's content in London, purchasing Louis Vuitton handbags and dresses worth Rs 7 lakh at the Harrods luxury store.
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The same clothes and accessories, along with 40-odd pieces of diamond-studded gold jewellery worth close to Rs 46 lakh, did her in at Mumbai airport on Sunday.
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B S Nunwal, additional commissioner of customs, Air Intelligence Unit (AIU), in a statement said, Sheetal, who had flown in from London in a British Airways flight, was caught by AIU sleuths on a tip-off.
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"Examination of her checked in and hand baggage resulted in the recovery of jewellery and other dutiable goods collectively," the statement read.

No inspectors

Sources revealed that Sheetal is, in a way, lucky that the total cost of her jewellery had been valued at about Rs 46 lakh.
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"We had a tough time getting specialised diamond evaluators, since the only two Customs-certified inspectors were not in the city," said an official.
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The Customs sleuths then requested a jewellery expert empanelled by the Gems and Jewellery Promotion Council of India.
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"We are satisfied by the present valuation. But had it been done by a diamond expert, it would have been higher, given the work done and type of diamonds," the official added.
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This would've meant that Sheetal would have to pay a lot more Customs duty than the Rs 9 lakh she'll have to
pay now.
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The Customs used a simple method of valuating Sheetal's jewellery taking into consideration the present day value of gold and basic workmanship charges.
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"However, what we don't know is the actual craftsmanship charges, since many of the jewellery seemed to be exquisite branded stuff," said the official.
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The ornaments, officials said, also contained a lot of jewellery that looked like antiques. Sheetal claimed they were her old jewellery.

Shopping bag

Rs 5 lakh
The cost of the two Louis Vuitton handbags that were in her check-in baggage

Rs 2.5 lakh
Worth of Calvin Klein and four other designer dresses

Rs 46 lakh
The cost of the 40 pieces of gold and diamond-studded jewellery

Allowed to carry without declaring

Rs 20,000: Jewellery

Rs 25,000: Other dutiable goods

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