The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken a significant step in its money laundering investigation involving Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo and others, as it filed its inaugural charge sheet, according to a source on Thursday.
The financial probe agency submitted the charge sheet in court on Wednesday, listing Guangwen Kyang (also known as Andrew Kuang), a Chinese national; Hari Om Rai, the Managing Director of Lava International; Rajan Malik; and Nitin Garg, the Chartered Accountant, as accused parties. The comprehensive charge sheet spans 400 pages.
The court is scheduled to acknowledge the charge sheet on December 13, as per the source.
The ED had previously arrested four individuals on October 10, asserting in remand papers that their activities facilitated Vivo India in making unjust gains, posing a threat to India's economic sovereignty. The agency alleged that substantial funds were transferred to Vivo India by certain companies, with almost 50% of the total turnover, amounting to Rs 62,476 crore, remitted to China out of the total sale proceeds of Rs 1,25,185 crore.
The ED contended that these remittances were orchestrated to show significant losses in Indian incorporated companies, thereby evading tax payments in India. After conducting searches across multiple locations in the country, the agency seized 119 bank accounts with a gross balance of Rs 465 crore, including fixed deposits of Rs 66 crore belonging to Vivo India. Additionally, the ED confiscated 2 kg gold bars and cash amounting to approximately Rs 73 lakh.
(With Agency Inputs)
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