NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday arrested four persons, including a Chinese national and the MD of Lava International, in a money laundering case involving phone-maker Vivo. The arrested are Vivo employees Guangwen Kyang aka Andrew Kuang from China, Rajan Malik, chartered accountant Nitin Garg, and Lava International founder Hari Om Rai.
Vivo said the arrest deeply concerns it, and it will exercise all legal options. “Vivo firmly adheres to its ethical principles and remains dedicated to legal compliance. We will exercise all available legal options,” said a spokesperson.
Vivo Mobiles India was incorporated in 2014 as a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Multi Accord Ltd. In July last year, the ED had raided Vivo and people linked with the firm, claiming to have busted a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian companies.
After the raid, ED said Vivo had fraudulently remitted Rs 62,476 crore, almost 50% of its turnover out of India, mainly to China. “These remittances were made in order to disclose huge losses in Indian incorporated companies to avoid payment of taxes in India,” the ED said.