Indian police said she had been accused by American authorities of exporting parts of military and commercial aircraft to the UAE and Iran without licence and authorisation.
A Dubai-based shipping company that is named in an arms smuggling case in the US has denied having any link with a woman accused in the case who was arrested in India on Friday.
S.S, an India-born Canadian citizen, was held at the Mumbai International Airport on Monday after she arrived from Tehran in Iran, where she had been living. The Indian immigration officials arrested her as there was a Red Corner Notice issued by the US government through the Interpol in 2009. She was produced before a court the following day, which remanded her to judicial custody till January 23.
Indian police said she had been accused by American authorities of exporting parts of military and commercial aircraft to the UAE and Iran without licence and authorisation.
Reports in the Indian media said that she had been associated with a Dubai-based company run by her brother.
According to the reports, the woman and her accomplices allegedly used bank accounts of the shipping firm in Dubai, which describes itself as a tanker agency specialist at all Gulf ports with many major companies in their client list, to make payments for the military aircraft parts from the US.
These illegally shipped aircraft parts included parts for fighter jets and military helicopters, said a report by the Indian daily DNA.
“All of the military parts exported were manufactured in the US, designed exclusively for military use and have been designated by the US Department of State as “defence articles”, thus requiring registration and licensing with the Department of State,” the newspaper quoted an unnamed police officer as saying.
According to the report, the accused in the case have been charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Arms Export Control Act, and money laundering. A US court had issued an arrest warrant against the woman and others in 2009, it said.
When contacted, a manager of the shipping agency in Dubai, who identified himself as Mohammed Hussain, told Khaleej Times that the company never employed the woman. She was not an employee and was never on our payroll. We have no information about the case and we are not fighting any charges,” he said claiming that the reports naming the company in the case were “false”. Asked about the woman’s brother who owned the company, the manager said the former had sold the company to the current management three years ago.
The woman’s fate will now be decided by the Indian government since it involves extradition proceedings under a treaty with the US.
Police sources in Mumbai told Khaleej Times that the case had been referred to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. Extraditing the woman to the US will be a long-drawn process and the police will have to initiate proceedings by getting a warrant from the extradition court in New Delhi.
