THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A CBI Court in Thiruvananthapuram has found Alex C Joseph, the Tiruvalla native accused of fraudulently importing luxury cars, guilty in a fake passport case. The court found him guilty on various charges that carry a cumulative punishment of eight years. However, he will have to spend only three years behind bars as the punishments run concurrently.
Former police Sub-inspector Vinod Krishnan, who was arraigned the second accused in the case, was acquitted for want of evidence.
Alex was allegedly involved in importing luxury cars by evading customs duty. He allegedly used the names of workers returning from foreign countries to import luxury cars.
The cars were declared as used ones, thereby claiming a duty cut. The current case in which he has been punished was registered in 2012 when he was arrested by the immigration department from the Hyderabad airport. With the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence having issued a lookout notice against him, Alex was arrested while trying to fly to Dubai on a fake passport.