Vivo under the lens of ED for money laundering act

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently conducted searches at 44 places across the country in a money laundering investigation against smartphone manufacturer Vivo and related firms.

The ED had filed a money laundering case after the Delhi Police’s economic offences wing filed an FIR against a distributor of Vivo based in Jammu and Kashmir, in which it was alleged that a few Chinese shareholders in the company forged their identification documents.

The ED suspects that the alleged forgery was done to launder illegal funds using shell companies. It also suspects that the said ‘proceeds’ of crime were diverted abroad or invested in other companies by circumventing Indian tax and enforcement agencies.

Vivo India’s spokesperson said, “Vivo is cooperating with the authorities to provide them with all required information. As a responsible corporate, we are committed to be fully compliant with laws.” The searches were being carried out under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) across several states, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya and Maharashtra, among others.

Premises of a number of Chinese smartphone companies, including Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, their distributors and linked associates were raided across the country by the IT department last year and it later claimed to have detected alleged unaccounted income worth over Rs 6,500 crore due to violation of the Indian tax law and regulations.