(Yicai Global) Aug. 1 -- Shares of China Zhongwang Holdings, an Asian aluminum giant, fell 14 percent after a US grand jury indicted its billionaire founder Liu Zhongtian on charges of allegedly evading USD1.8 billion of tariffs by smuggling large amounts of the metal into the US.

The company's stock price [HKG:1333] closed at HKD3.44 (44 US cents), after plunging by as much as 21 percent in intraday trading.

Liaoning province-based China Zhongwang said in a statement today that it had clarified a number of allegations in separate announcements on Aug. 12, 2015, Sept. 10, 2015, May 12, 2017, and Sept. 17, 2017, and had nothing further to add after reviewing related reports and consulting with Liu, its controlling shareholder.

Liu, 55, has been indicted by a US federal grand jury on charges of dodging import duties on aluminum products brought into the country over the years, Hong Kong's ET Net reported.

China Zhongwang said the group has been operating in strict compliance with the laws and regulations of China and the country where its products are exported. The group is expanding overseas under the principle of fair and orderly competition, it added.

It is unclear whether Liu, who lives in China, will hire lawyers in the US as China and the US do not have an extradition treaty, though American authorities have issued an arrest warrant for him, according to the report.

The indictment also charges Liu with transferring funds to China Zhongwang with a front company in a mass money laundering scheme. Liu and other defendants face charges such as fraud, money laundering, submitting false documents to customs and conspiracy, the report said, adding that most counts carry a maximum 20-year prison term, and if served consecutively, a maximum of 465 years.

Set up in 1993, China Zhongwang Holdings went public in Hong Kong in 2009 and has evolved into the world's second-largest aluminum extrusion products maker and Asia's largest.