New Jersey prosecutors announced a settlement Tuesday in its criminal investigation into Holtec International, an energy company accused of providing fraudulent information to the state to earn bigger tax breaks.
Holtec, which has offices in Camden, will pay a $5 million fine and must retain a state-approved independent reviewer to audit any future applications for New Jersey benefits over the next three years. The company and its executives will not face criminal charges, but failure to comply with the terms of the settlement could result in prosecution, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office warned.
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The case goes back to July 2018, when Holtec invested $12 million in the energy storage company Eos. Under the terms of the state's Angel Investor Tax Credit Program, Holtec was entitled to a credit for its investment in an emerging tech company in New Jersey. The tax breaks offered by the state's program equal 10% of the investment, maxing out at $500,000.
But in an attempt to increase its credit to $1 million, prosecutors said Holtec created new documents months later claiming that the company and another entity, Singh Real Estate Enterprises, had each made a $6 million investment in Eos in July 2018. Singh Real Estate Enterprises is a separate company connected to Holtec founder Krishna Singh.
Even though the real estate company had not invested in Eos in 2018, and was not even considering a deal, Holtec's applications for the tax credits allegedly represented that the $12 million investment was a joint venture. Holtec even returned $3 million in shares to Eos so they could be reissued to Singh Real Estate Enterprises in October 2018.
The applications were initially approved, but later flagged for investigation. Singh Real Estate Enterprises will be subject to similar audits over the next three years.
"These agreements reinforce our commitment to protecting New Jersey’s taxpayers and ensuring fairness and integrity in our economic system by preventing companies from defrauding the State’s tax incentive programs," Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a release. "Today, we are sending a clear message: no matter how big and powerful you are, if you lie to the State for financial gain, we will hold you accountable – period."
Holtec denied any misconduct and said it had settled the case "under threat of unfounded retaliatory criminal prosecution" in a release issued Monday. Much of Holtec's business is connected to work at nuclear power plants, including the management of nuclear waste and decommissioning of closed power plants.
George E. Norcross III sits on the board of Holtec, and was named in news reports on Tuesday in connection with Holtec's settlement with New Jersey. Through a spokesperson, Norcross declined to comment to the New York Times, noting only that Norcross has never held an ownership stake in the company and that the state had lost an earlier lawsuit to Holtec seeking to withhold tax breaks.
Disclosure: George E. Norcross III is the father of Lexie Norcross, the founder and chairwoman of PhillyVoice.
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