Seafood Exporters Association of India has issued a warning to its members against doing business with Valli Mar S.R.L, a company based in Chioggia, Italy. The company is facing allegations of forging documents to secure shipments from five Indian seafood exporters, including three from Kerala.
Valli Mar is accused of defrauding exporters by providing forged documents to secure six containers of seafood sent to Italy. According to the understanding between the company and the exporters, cash-against-document was the mode of payment. A bank in Italy should collect money for the exporters and handover the documents to Valli Mar, who in turn would use these to release the containers from the port.
"We sent two containers of cuttlefish through Deepak Sabin, an agent of Valli Mar in October. As the payment delayed, we contacted the Italian company through him and Valli Mar sent us a scan of the receipt issued by bank. But, on closer inspection, it was turned out to be a forged one," R Vamana Kini, partner of International Freeze Fish Exports. Kini has hired a lawyer in Italy to retrieve the products worth $ 1,96,157 (Rs 1 crore).
Philip Thomas, managing director of Penver Products, is another aggrieved customer. "After sending two containers of squid, worth Rs 1.5 crore, I was tipped off by a local agent who doubted the credentials of Valli Mar. Even though the containers have reached Italy, they are still in our control," he claimed.
Thomas' business partner is K P Vinod Kumar, son of late Kerala chief minister E K Nayanar.
Sabin, owner of Wide World Exports, said three of his clients- one from Mumbai and two based in Kochi - were taken for a ride by Valli Mar. "This company is still dealing with others agents in Kerala," he said.
Sabin last spoke to Stefano Boscolo, contact person of Valli Mar on December 3, 2012. "Boscolo claimed that he had made the payments and sent us a forged document to support his claim," Sabin said.
Kochi-headquartered Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) had contacted M Keivom, second secretary (commercial) at the Indian embassy in Italy last week to help retrieve containers. However, the embassy turned down the request, revealed those in the know of the whole incident.
