The latest in a string of events illustrating the increasingly ambiguous relationship between New Delhi and companies with Chinese roots, India’s anti-money laundering agency raided more than 40 offices of Chinese phone manufacturer Vivo across the nation on Tuesday over allegations of money laundering.
According to local media sources, the Enforcement Directorate searched Vivo’s offices in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
A Vivo spokeswoman told a website in a statement that the company was working with law enforcement.
“Vivo India is working with the authorities to give them all the information they need. Without going into any information regarding the ED’s procedures, the spokesperson stated that “as a responsible corporate entity, we are dedicated to being fully compliant with regulations in India.
According to a Bloomberg article from April, the ED has been attempting to determine whether Vivo had any “serious abnormalities in ownership and financial reporting” for a number of months.
The ED confiscated $725 million from Xiaomi India in the same month on the grounds that the business had improperly sent funds in the name of royalties in accordance with “instructions from instructions of their Chinese parent group entities.”
According to Reuters, Xiaomi denied these allegations and claimed separately that an executive had been threatened with “physical harm” while the case was being investigated.
Additionally, the corporation appealed the enforcement agency’s decision to the Karnataka High Court; the outcome is still waiting.
In May, the India Cellular and Electronics Association pushed New Delhi to get in and claimed that the ED was ignorant of how royalty payments in the IT industry operated.
The lobby group represents major tech companies, including Apple, Google, and Amazon.
