ED raids multiple locations of Chinese mobile company VIVO & its associated firms

New Delhi: Stepping up its probe over alleged money laundering charges against the Chinese mobile phone maker VIVO, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out more raids at multiple locations of the company and its associate companies.

The ED searched as many as 48 locations of VIVO Mobiles India Private Limited and its 23 associated firms including M/S Grand Prospect International Communication Pvt Ltd (GPICPL).

VIVO Communications, the Chinese firm has been under the scanner of investigation agencies over alleged financial improprieties in the transactions and tax evasion.

Moreover, the ED officials told press today that the Chinese directors Zhengshen Ou and Zhang Jie of the GPICPL, in association with mobile maker Vivo, have already fled the country.

Vivo Mobiles India Pvt Ltd was incorporated on 01.08.2014 as a subsidiary of Multi Accord Ltd, a Hong Kong based company and was registered at ROC Delhi.

GPICPL (M/s Grand Prospects International Communication Pvt. Ltd.) was registered on 03/12/2014 at ROC Shimla, with registered addresses of Solan, Himachal Pradesh and Gandhinagar, Jammu. The said company was incorporated by Zhengshen Ou, Bin Lou and Zhang Jie with the help of one Sh. Nitin Garg, CA. Bin Lou left India on 26.04.2018.

PMLA Investigation by ED was initiated on the basis of FIR registered by Delhi Police under sections 417, 120B and 420 of IPC, 1860 against M/s Grand Prospect International Communication Private Limited (herein after referred as M/s GPICPL) and its Director, shareholders and certifying professionals etc on the basis of complaint filed by Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

As per the FIR, M/s GPICPL and its shareholders had used forged identification documents and falsified addresses at the time of incorporation. The allegations were found to be true as the investigation revealed that the addresses mentioned by the directors of GPICPL did not belong to them, but in fact it was a government building and house of a senior bureaucrat.

ED’s investigation revealed that the same director of GPICPL, namely Bin Lou, was also an ex-director of Vivo. He had incorporated multiple companies across the country spread across various states, a total of 18 companies around the same time, just after the incorporation of Vivo in the year 2014-15 and further another Chinese National Zhixin Wei had incorporated further 4 companies.

These companies are found to have transferred huge amount of funds to Vivo India. Further, out of the total sale proceeds of Rs. 1,25,185 crores, Vivo India remitted Rs. 62,476 crores. i.e, almost 50% of the 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.

All due procedures as per law were followed during the said operations at each premise. The employees of Vivo India, including some Chinese Nationals did not cooperate with the search proceedings and had tried to abscond, remove and hide digital devices which were retrieved by the search teams.

So far, 119 bank accounts of various entities with gross balance to the tune of Rs. 465 crores including FDs to the tune of 66 crores of Vivo India, 2kg gold bars, and cash amount to the tune of approximately Rs. 73 lakhs have been seized under the provisions of PMLA, 2002.