- Wednesday, February 26, 2025
The arret added to the legal troubles that the Chinese phone-maker is already facing in India and comes amid rising tensions between New Delhi and Beijing.
By: Shubham Ghosh
ENFORCEMENT Directorate (ED), India’s financial crime-fighting agency, on Tuesday (10) arrested four persons, including one Chinese national working for smartphone manufacturer Vivo in India in a case of alleged money-laundering, as per legal papers and lawyers working on the case.
The arret added to the legal troubles that the Chinese phone-maker is already facing in India and comes amid rising tensions between New Delhi and Beijing, ranging from border disputes to the south Asian nation’s growing scrutiny of Chinese businesses and investment.
In a statement, Vivo said it “firmly adheres to its ethical principles and remains dedicated to legal compliance. The recent arrest deeply concerns us. We will exercise all available legal options”.
Two sources told Reuters earlier on Tuesday that four Vivo employees were held, but during a court hearing where the executives were produced, lawyers said only one was a Vivo employee — a Chinese national identified in legal documents as Guanwen Kuang.
Manish Jain, the ED’s counsel, sought a 10-day custody for the arrested individuals. However, the judge ordered only three days.
The names of the three other executives were not clear immediately, Reuters added.
The executives were arrested in connection to an ongoing case where the ED raided Vivo’s offices and accused it of money laundering, the first of the sources said.
The Chinese phone-maker has repeatedly denied the allegations. It had previously said that it cooperated with authorities to hand over to them the required information and was “committed to be fully compliant with laws”.
Last year, the ED blocked 119 bank accounts linked to Vivo’s India business, but a court revoked the move later.
Indian police also have formally accused Vivo of helping transfer funds illegally to a news portal under investigation on charges of spreading Chinese propaganda, Reuters reported last week.
(With Reuters inputs)
