Jeweler from N.J. ran scheme to avoid paying duties on imported gems, feds allege

A Jersey City man was charged with evading international tariffs and illegally transmitting money through his companies, federal authorities said Tuesday.

A Jersey City man who works as a jeweler with businesses in New York’s Diamond District has allegedly failed to pay tariffs on millions of dollars worth of imported jewelry from Turkey and India, while also running an illegal money transmitting scheme, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Monishkumar Kirankumar Doshi Shah, also known as Monish Doshi Shah, 39, of Mumbai, India and Jersey City, was charged 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, U.S. Attorney Phillip R. Sellinger said Tuesday.

Shah is accused of concocting a scheme to evade international duties (tariffs or taxes) in shipping jewelry to the U.S. between 2015 and 2023.

Shah allegedly shipped or instructed others to ship jewelry from Turkey and India to one of his businesses in South Korea and then conspired to have the products relabeled as originating from South Korea in order to avoid paying a roughly 5.5% duty after shipping to the U.S.

And from July 2020 through November 2021, Shah allegedly used his jewelry companies in New York as unlicensed money transmitting companies, sometimes handling over $1 million in a single day, prosecutors said.

Through a series of companies including ones he controlled in New York City’s Diamond District, prosecutors alleged Shah conducted millions of dollars in illegal financial transactions for customers, including converting cash to checks and wire transfers. Shah also used three other co-conspirators’ companies in the Diamond District to convert cash to checks or wire transfers, according to court documents.

The alleged conspirators were not named in court documents, but authorities said Shah and others transferred tens of millions of dollars between their companies.

One of Shah’s companies allegedly sent a co-conspirator from Great Neck, New York over $11 million, according to court records. Three other co-conspirators, all from Edison, allegedly sent more than $8 million to Shah’s companies from companies they controlled. According to authorities, the three co-conspirators from Edison sent over $26 million to the fourth conspirator in New York through their companies.

Shah and his conspirators charged a fee for the money processing, and never registered his companies as money transmitting entities in New York, New Jersey or with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, authorities said.

Shah was arrested last weekend and appeared in Newark federal court Monday. He was released on $100,000 bond and restricted to his home as well as location monitoring.

Shah’s attorney Peter Katz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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