First charge sheet filed by ED against vivo-India

The Enforcement Directorate filed its first charge sheet in connection with its money laundering probe against Chinese smartphone maker vivo and some others, official sources said on Thursday.

In the course of this inquiry, the federal investigate agency detained four people, among them the MD of the Lava International mobile company Hari Om Rai. Chartered accountants Nitin Garg and Rajan Malik, as well as Chinese national Guangwen, also known as Andrew Kuang, were among the others taken into jail.

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Remand documents

Subsequently, the ED asserted in its remand documents filed before this local court that the four’s purported actions allowed vivo-India to obtain unjustified profits that were harmful to India’s economic sovereignty.

It claimed to have uncovered a significant money laundering scheme involving Chinese people and several Indian companies when it searched vivo-India and the individuals connected to it in July of last year.

Then, the ED had said that Vivo-India had “illegally” transported a staggering Rs 62,476 crore to China in order to evade paying taxes in India. As stated in its statement, the business “firmly adheres to its ethical principles and remains dedicated to legal compliance.”

Rai had recently told a court here that though his company and vivo-India were in talks to launch a joint venture in India a decade ago, he had nothing to do with the Chinese firm or its representatives since 2014.

“He has not derived any monetary benefit, nor has he engaged in any transaction with vivo or any entity allegedly related to vivo, let alone having been associated with any alleged ‘proceeds of crime’,” Rai’s lawyer told the court.

The agency filed an enforcement case information report (ECIR), the ED equivalent of a police FIR, on February 3 after studying a Delhi Police FIR of December last year against an associated company of vivo, Grand Prospect International Communication Pvt Ltd (GPICPL), its directors, shareholders and some others professionals.

The police complaint was filed by the Corporate Affairs Ministry alleging that GPICPL and its shareholders used “forged” identification documents and “falsified” addresses at the time of incorporation of the company in December 2014.

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