A jeweler from Jersey City with businesses in New York City’s Diamond District has been charged with spearheading a scheme to illegally evade customs duties for millions of dollars of jewelry imports into the United States, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Monishkumar Kirankumar Doshi Shah, aka “Monish Doshi Shah,” 39, of Mumbai, India, and Jersey City, was charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of operating and aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business, Sellinger said in a statement.
He was arrested over the weekend and appeared yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge André M. Espinosa in Newark federal court. Shah was released on $100,000 bond, under the condition of home detention and location monitoring.
From January 2015 through September 2023, Shah engaged in a scheme to evade duties for shipments of jewelry from Turkey and India to the United States, federal court documents show.
Shah would ship 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.
Additionally, he 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.
During the scheme, Shah shipped millions of dollars of jewelry from South Korea to the United States.
From July 2020 through November 2021, Shah operated numerous purported jewelry companies in New York City’s Diamond District, including MKore LLC (MKore), MKore USA Inc. (MKore USA), and Vruman Corp. (Vruman).
Shah used these entities to conduct millions of dollars in illegal financial transactions for customers – including converting cash to checks or wire transfers.
Furthermore, he would also collect cash from customers and use conspirators’ jewelry companies, which were also located in the Diamond District, to convert the cash into wires or checks.
At times, Shah and his conspirators moved more than a million dollars of cash in a single day. In exchange for their services, Shah and his conspirators charged a fee.
None of Shah’s or his conspirators’ companies were registered as money transmitting businesses with New York, New Jersey, or the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
The wire fraud conspiracy charge is punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison. The charge of operating and aiding and abetting the operation of an illegal money transmitting business carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Each count is also punishable by a maximum fine of either $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest.
