The Himachal Pradesh Crime Investigation Department on Thursday arrested one of the officials of a now-defunct company accused of defrauding several state departments and banks of more than Rs 6,000 crore, PTI reported. The state police had filed a case against the managing director and three directors of the company last week.
The Indian Technomac Company Limited, which made refined alloys of noble metals, allegedly committed the fraud between 2009 and 2014 before shutting shop. When the company stopped its operations, its officials disappeared allegedly without paying crores of rupees in taxes, bills and staff wages. The company was based in Himachal Pradesh’s Paonta Sahib town.
A court in Paonta Sahib sent Vinay Sharma, the arrested director, to police custody till Saturday. The Crime Investigation Department is still looking for the main accused, Rakesh Kumar Sharma, who was the managing director of the company.
The police had filed the case on the basis of a complaint filed by the assistant excise and taxation commissioner. The company allegedly owes the Excise and Taxation Department Rs 2,175.51 crore in value added taxes. It is believed to have evaded paying the tax using forged documents.
The company also defaulted on loans worth Rs 2,167 crore borrowed from various banks. It owes the Income Tax Department around Rs 750 crore and the provident fund, labour and state electricity departments between Rs 15 crore and Rs 20 crore, The Tribune reported.
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