Tribune News Service

Solan, September 15

A CBI team today raided Paonta Sahib-based Indian Technomac Company Limited (ITCL), involved in a fraud of around Rs 4,200 crore.

An FIR was registration against the company by the CBI, which had arrested its director Vinay Sharma.

The CBI is investigating the fraud with a consortium of banks from where company directors had obtained credits worth crores using shell companies. The dues were not paid and directors had fled.

DC, State Taxes and Excise, Sirmaur, Pritpal Singh, said, “A team of CBI officials raided the ITCL. They also examined the records of tax returns and registration of the firm.”

The company premises had been sealed ever since the CID had registered two FIRs against it in 2016. The CBI team could not find any records as these had been lifted by the CID.

The Economic Intelligence Unit of the Excise and Taxation Department had detected the fraud on February 18, 2014, as a huge mismatch was found in the returns filed by the company and the VAT-26-A declaration. The company, manufacturing steel, ferro alloy and steel ingots, had become liable to pay tax from January 2008.

Rakesh Sharma, MD, the main accused, had fled abroad despite flashing of a red corner notice by the Interpol against him.

Sharma owed Rs 2,175.51 crore to the Excise and Taxation Department, Rs 2,167 crore to banks and Rs 750 crore to the Income Tax Department.

Three chargesheets covering 22 accused had been filed in the case after the completion of the investigations by the CID.

The ED had also filed a prosecution complaint before a special court in Shimla against the firm, its MD, director Vinay Kumar Sharma and 12 other accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in March 2021.