KOCHI: Customs has issued show-cause notices to six persons, including CM’s former principal secretary M Sivasankar, in the case related to smuggling of US dollars by a UAE Consulate staffer, from Thiruvananthapuram to Egypt. Though Customs found serious charges against former Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan during the investigation, he was not issued a showcause notice.
The case pertains to smuggling of $1.9 lakh by Khalid Ali Shoukry, an Egyptian who worked as finance head of UAE Consulate, Thiruvananthapuram, in 2019. It was found that the cash smuggled out of the country by Khalid was received as commission from Unitac Builders for awarding the Wadakkanchery LIFE Mission housing project which was funded by UAE Red Crescent.
The case emerged during the probe into the Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling case in which diplomatic baggage addressed to UAE Consulate was used to smuggle gold into the country. Customs has issued notices to Swapna Suresh, Sarith P S, Sandeep Nair, Sivasankar, Khalid and Santhosh Eapen, MD of Unitac Builders. The respondents have to reply to the notice in the next 30 days.