The Income Tax department conducted a search and seizure operation on ceramic brand Qutone on August 9. On the second day of the investigation, the department identified over Rs 200 crores of unaccounted transactions, cash and jewellery. The department has demanded clarification on the amount paid to company’s brand ambassadors Anil Kapoor, Yami Gautam and Tamannaah Bhatia.
Earlier in 2019, actor Anil Kapoor visited the Ahmedabad office of Qutone and also inaugurated the Qutone Experience Center along with Manoj Agarwal – C.M.D.
Gujarat Income Tax department raided over 25 locations of the ceramic brand. In the search and seizure operation– led by the Rajkot Income Tax department–it was found that the company is also involved in a major bogus billing scam.
In the search operation over 200 I-T officials were deployed at various locations of the company’s head offices and residences in Ahmedabad, Morbi and Vadodara.
Residential places of chairman and managing director Manoj Agarwal, Managing directors Sunil Manglunia and Rajeev Adlakha are being investigated.
Qutone was founded in 2008. Its product line includes marbles, stoneware, wall tiles and others. (iMarble, DGVT, Qrock, iQ-Smart, Elegante and Wall Tiles). In June, 2022 the company launched a new range of products and gave an official statement that “With these new product launches, Qutone expects its revenue to grow from 500 crores to 750 crores.”.
The search and seizure operation is still underway.
