ED conducts raids against Chinese mobile company Vivo; 44 locations searched
ED conducted searches at 44 places across the country in a money laundering investigation against Chinese smartphone maker, Vivo.
FollowThe Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday conducted searches at 44 places across the country in a money laundering investigation against Chinese smartphone manufacturing company Vivo and related firms, officials said.
The searches are being carried out under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at locations in several states including in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, Maharashtra and others. Officials added that the agency is conducting searches at 44 places related to Vivo and associated companies.
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The federal agency filed a money laundering case after taking cognisance of a recent Delhi Police (economic offences wing) FIR against a distributor of the agency based in Jammu and Kashmir where it was alleged that few Chinese shareholders in that company forged their identify documents.
The ED suspects this alleged forgery was done to launder illegally generated funds using shell or paper companies and some of these "proceeds of crime" were diverted abroad or put in some other businesses by skirting Indian tax and enforcement agencies.
The action is being seen as part of the Union government's continued crackdown against Chinese entities and their linked Indian operatives indulging in serious financial crimes like money laundering and tax evasion while operating here.
Premises of a number of Chinese smartphone makers, their distributors and linked associates were raided across the country by the Income Tax Department in December 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.Â
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Following tensions on the border between the two nations in 2020, which resulted in numerous rounds of negotiations, the surveillance of Chinese companies became more intense. Since then, more than 200 mobile applications have been prohibited, including TikTok.
Contrary to data released by New Delhi, which claimed that India traded with the US more than any other nation last year, China had said in May that it remained India's top trading partner. It demonstrated a willingness to take action to enhance regular commerce with India by pointing out that the value of bilateral trade between China and India was $125.66 billion.
(With inputs from PTI)
