The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has submitted its inaugural charge sheet in relation to the money laundering investigation involving Chinese smartphone manufacturer vivo and others, as per official sources on Thursday. Filed before a special court, the prosecution complaint invokes criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), naming vivo-India as an accused alongside individuals previously apprehended in the case, including Hari Om Rai, the MD of Lava International mobile company, Chinese national Guangwen alias Andrew Kuang, and Chartered Accountants Nitin Garg and Rajan Malik.
The ED, which conducted raids on vivo-India and associated entities in July of the previous year, had asserted that the accused individuals facilitated wrongful gains for vivo-India, adversely impacting India’s economic sovereignty. The agency had alleged that Vivo-India unlawfully transferred Rs 62,476 crore to China to evade taxes in India.
In response, vivo-India emphasized its commitment to ethical principles and legal compliance. Rai, MD of Lava International, asserted in court that his association with vivo-India ended in 2014, and he had no involvement with the Chinese firm or its representatives since. The ED initiated its investigation based on a Delhi Police FIR from December of the preceding year against an associated company of vivo, Grand Prospect International Communication Pvt Ltd (GPICPL), and its stakeholders, following a complaint by the Corporate Affairs Ministry alleging the use of forged documents during the company’s incorporation in 2014.
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