14 DAY TRIAL // Not exactly a long time after it was revealed that Hewlett-Packard might have been involved in a major bribery scandal in Russia, the company is now facing an investigation in another country, India to be exact. In this case, HP India has been the subject of an 18-month-long investigation by India's Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, which attempted to establish whether or not the PC supplier was guilty of having dodged its responsibility to pay taxes on imported goods.
According to a report published by The Wall Street Journal, sources say that HP was handed the results of the investigation at the end of April. The Directorate believes that the PC maker did not pay import duty on computers, printers and scanners that it brought into the country. All in all, the total amount of taxes supposedly dodged is of no less than $322 million.
“India's Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, which investigates tax fraud, recently completed an 18-month investigation that concluded that H-P had avoided paying proper duties on shipments of computers, printers, scanners and other devices into the country, these people said,” the paper reports.
Of course, HP denies all allegations and is getting ready to counterattack. Now that the investigation is over, the industry giant can contest the findings through standard judicial procedures.
“HP India refutes the DRI's position and will challenge its claims through the judicial process.” an HP spokesman has supposedly stated, according to the paper.
As for the investigation into HP's alleged participation in the bribery, it is being carried out by German authorities, because it is believed that the alleged illegal activities were carried out through a German subsidiary. US authorities are also conducting investigations, as are, of course, Russian legal bodies. Both of these sagas will likely last, as such lawsuits tend to, for months, if not years.