Reliance Industries Ltd has denied any wrongdoing after reports claimed that a company linked to one of its firms earned $1.1 billion (Rs 7,615 crore) in profits from Dutch pipeline company A Hak NL, The Indian Express reported.

Dutch investigators had on Friday alleged that around $1.1 billion in profits earned by pipeline company A Hak NL was provided to Singapore-based Biometrix Marketing Ltd, which they claimed is a Reliance Industries-linked firm. A Hak NL had made the profits by allegedly over-invoicing its services to Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Ltd, now known as East West Pipeline Ltd.

The Dutch Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service and Economic Investigation Service on Friday arrested three employees of A Hak NL and presented them in court. The arrests were made in connection with the services provided by A Hak International Contractors Asia FZE, a firm owned by A Hak NL, to Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Ltd between 2006 and 2008 for building a gas pipeline in India, The Indian Express reported. The employees allegedly received up to $10 million (Rs 69.23 crore) for their involvement in the scam, the Dutch Prosecutor’s Office said.

Profits of $1.2 billion were siphoned off from A Hak International Contractors Asia through four insurance companies, the investigators said. Of this, $1.1 billion was invested in Biometrix Marketing Ltd through bearer documents using several transactions involving about 15 companies based in Dubai, the Caribbean and Switzerland.

The beneficial owner of some of these firms is James Walfenzao, who also set up all offshore companies that form part of the Reliance Industries Ltd offshore corporate structure, in 2005. Walfenzao, the president of The Corpag Group, has also been named in the Paradise Papers, the investigators said.

Dutch investigators had first raided the premises of A Hak NL in Utrecht in central Netherlands in November 2017. An inspection of the company books raised suspicions. Reports on Saturday had not mentioned the names of either the Dutch or Indian firm.

However, Reliance Industries Ltd denied the allegations. “RIL or any of its subsidiaries neither set up any gas pipeline in 2006, nor have contracts with any Netherlands company for setting up of any gas pipeline and hence the report cannot relate to RIL,” its statement said. “RIL has always complied with all rules, regulations and applicable laws and any suggestion of impropriety by RIL is emphatically denied.”

East West Pipeline too rejected the allegations. It said the project was built by a private entity, where promoters invested their own funds. “No public funds were invested and all borrowings from banks, financial institutions and others have been fully repaid by the promoter,” it told The Indian Express. “We strongly deny any suggestion of any money having been laundered at any stage during the implementation of the project. Suggestion of such impropriety lacks logic and economic rationale and is emphatically denied.”

East West Pipeline admitted that A Hak NL was one of the contractors for the project, but denied any wrongdoing on its part. “East West Pipeline project was implemented in full compliance with all rules, regulations and applicable laws,” it said. “All applicable taxes and duties have been duly paid.”