I-T probes Reebok India; Cops say fraud amount may be less

The I-T department has launched a probe into the finances of Reebok India, which has filed a fraud case against its two former employees, even as the Gurgaon Police said the company's claim of Rs 870 crore deceit is "far from reality" and the amount "would be less".

The Income Tax Department, which had earlier this month conducted a survey at the Gurgaon office of the sportswear manufacturer, has begun issuing notices to its executives, sources said.

Notices to produce documents, personal transactions and I-T returns for the last four years have been sought from the India-based executives of the firm for the income tax probe to check any possible financial wrongdoing in the company and subsequent tax evasion, sources said.

The I-T investigations directorate has also alerted its intelligence wing in this regard to supply it with necessary inputs, sources added.

Earlier in the day, Gurgaon Police, which is probing the alleged Rs 870-crore fraud in Reebok India by former MD Subhinder Singh Prem and COO Vishnu Bhagat, said the company's claim is "far from reality" and the amount "would be less".

"The amount involved in the scandal would be less," Maheshwar Dayal, DCP (East), Gurgaon told PTI.

When asked about the likely magnitude of the scandal, he did not elaborate while saying the company's claim that it will have to take a total hit of approximately Rs 870 crore and will have to incur a restructuring cost of Rs 487 crore is "far from reality".

When contacted, the company as well as Prem and Bhagat declined to comment.