EXCLUSIVE: Vivo India management summoned by ED

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned the management of the Chinese mobile handset maker Vivo India at its New Delhi office. According to exclusive information available with Business Today TV, top Chinese officials in the company and the company’s legal representatives have been summoned to provide details and information pertaining to the ongoing money-laundering probe against the company.

The ED had, in July, raided more than forty locations related to Vivo across the country. On its radar were the company and twenty-three of its related firms. The investigation agency had also blocked 119 bank accounts linked to Vivo India, reportedly holding a total of Rs 465 crore. The Delhi High Court had last month, allowed fourteen entities to conditionally operate their bank accounts.

Vivo and other Chinese mobile handset makers including Xiaomi and Oppo are being investigated by the ED in a money-laundering case. As reported earlier by Business Today, investigation agencies and the police have found instances of forged documents and identities in use by Chinese nationals related to the companies and also by some of its distributors. In April, the ED had seized Rs 5,551 crore in deposits of Xiaomi India for allegedly violating foreign exchange rules.

ED in its affidavit in Delhi High Court has accused Vivo of allegedly committing ‘heinous economic offence’. This includes alleged remittance of nearly half of its Rs 62,476-crore turnover to China to avoid paying taxes in India.