3 top officials of Vivo-India have been arrested by ED.
New Delhi: ED has arrested three top officials of the company in connection with the investigation into the money laundering allegations against Chinese smartphone maker Vivo-India and some others. Giving information about this, official sources said on Saturday that Vivo-India’s interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Hong Shuquan alias Terry, Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Harinder Dahiya and advisor Hemant Munjal have been booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). ) has been detained under the provisions of. He told that all three were produced in the court which has sent them to ED custody for 3 days.
Vivo-India also issued a statement
The company said in a statement that it was ‘deeply concerned by the current action taken against the officers.’ Vivo spokesperson said, ‘The recent arrests reflect continued harassment and thus create an environment of uncertainty in the broader industry landscape. We are determined to utilize all legal avenues to contest and challenge these allegations. ED had earlier arrested 4 people in this case, including Hariom Rai, Managing Director (MD) of mobile phone manufacturer Lava International, Chinese national Guangwen alias Andrew Kuang, chartered accountants Nitin Garg and Rajan Malik. All four are currently in judicial custody.
Court has taken cognizance of ED’s charge sheet
ED had recently filed a charge sheet against these people in a special PMLA court in Delhi, on which the court has taken cognizance. Special Judge Kiran Gupta has summoned the accused on February 19. The ED had earlier claimed in its court documents submitted for the four arrested accused that their alleged activities resulted in wrongful gains for Vivo-India which was detrimental to India’s economic sovereignty. In July last year, ED had conducted raids on the premises of Vivo-India and people associated with it. The agency had claimed to have busted a big money laundering gang involving Chinese nationals and several Indian companies.
‘Illegally transferred money to China’
The ED had then alleged that Vivo-India had ‘illegally’ transferred Rs 62,476 crore to China to avoid paying taxes in India. The company then said it ‘strongly adheres to its ethical principles and is dedicated to legal compliance.’ Lava International’s Hariom Rai recently told a court that his company and Vivo-India were in talks to start a joint venture in India a decade ago, but since 2014 he has had no communication with the Chinese company or its representatives. Nothing to do with it.
Rai’s lawyer gave this argument before the court
Rai’s lawyer had told the court, ‘His client has neither received any monetary benefit nor been involved in any transaction with Vivo-India or any entity allegedly related to Vivo, any alleged proceeds of crime. Forget about being associated with it. The ED filed an enforcement case information report (ECIR) on February 3 against GPICPL, a subsidiary of Vivo-India, its director, shareholder and some other professionals, based on a Delhi Police FIR dated December 2022, which is part of the police FIR. It’s like that. A police complaint was lodged by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs alleging that GPICPL and its shareholders had used ‘fake’ identity documents and ‘false’ addresses at the time of formation of the company in December 2014.
Money transferred to Vivo through 23 companies
GPICPL’s registered address is Solan in Himachal Pradesh, Gandhinagar in Gujarat and Jammu. The action against Vivo-India came after the ED found that three Chinese nationals who left India between 2018 and 2021 and another person from there (China) have formed 23 companies in India and allegedly Chartered accountant Nitin Garg had helped. ED claimed that investigation found that 23 companies established in India transferred huge amounts of money to Vivo India. Also, out of the total sales income of Rs 1,25,185 crore, Vivo India sent Rs 62,476 crore or about 50 per cent of the turnover out of India, mainly to China. (Language)
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