ED Arrests Four In Vivo Money Laundering Case Including Chinese National After Allegations Of Illegal Fund Transfer

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has apprehended four individuals, including a Chinese national, a managing director, a Chartered Accountant, and another individual, in connection with its money laundering investigation into the Chinese mobile manufacturer Vivo, as per agency officials on Tuesday.

Among those detained are Guangwen Kyang, also known as Andrew Kuang (a Chinese citizen), Hari Om Rai (managing director of Lava International), chartered accountant Nitin Garg, and another private individual named Rajan Malik, Hindustan Times reported.

They were detained under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and are expected to be presented before a court where the ED will seek their custody.

The ED had conducted a raid on the company and its associated individuals in July of the previous year. On 5 July last year, the agency raided Vivo Mobiles India Pvt Ltd and 23 firms linked to it.

At that time, the ED alleged that Rs 62,476 crore had been "illegally transferred by Vivo to China in order to avoid payment of taxes in India." In 2022, the ED blocked 119 bank accounts associated with Vivo's India business, but a court later overturned this decision.

The company was incorporated by Chinese citizens Zhengshen Ou, Bin Lou, and Zhang Jie with the assistance of Nitin Garg, a chartered accountant. Bin Lou left India on 26 April 2018, while Zhengshen Ou and Zhang Jie left India in 2021.

The PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) investigation by the ED was initiated based on a Delhi Police case registered in 2021 against M/s Grand Prospect International Communication Private Limited (hereinafter referred to as M/s GPICPL) and its directors, shareholders, and certifying professionals. This was based on a complaint filed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

According to the FIR, GPICPL and its shareholders had used forged identification documents and falsified addresses at the time of incorporation. The investigation revealed that the addresses mentioned by the directors of GPICPL did not belong to them but were, in fact, a government building and the residence of a senior bureaucrat, as stated in an ED statement last year.