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 INR 10 million (USD 184,094, EUR 141,200).
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