- Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo has been caught laundering money to avoid paying taxes.
- The firm reportedly sent Rs 62,476 crore to China, almost 50 percent of its turnover.
- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized bank accounts worth Rs 465 crore, Rs 73 lakh in cash, and 2kg gold bars, possessed by the brand.
Chinese smartphone maker Vivo has allegedly been caught laundering money to China in order to avoid taxes in India. The Indian arm of Vivo allegedly sent Rs 62,476 crore to China, which is roughly around 50% of its turnover. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently launched pan-India raids against Vivo Mobile India Pvt. Ltd. and its 23 associated companies a couple of days ago, and has seized more than Rs 465 crores in total.
Vivo India caught laundering money to avoid taxes
According to ED, Vivo India sent the said amount mainly to China in order to disclose huge losses to avoid payment of taxes in India. This, of course, means that Vivo found a way around, which can’t be deemed legal by any means. “These remittances were made in order to disclose huge losses in Indian incorporated companies to avoid payment of taxes in India,” said the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The ED has blocked 119 bank accounts linked to Vivo’s India business, which were holding Rs 465 crore, Rs 73 lakh cash, and 2kg gold bars. ED says that they have evidence that Vivo officials used forged documents while incorporating several companies. The addresses that the said companies mentioned do not belong to Vivo, but to a government building and house of a senior bureaucrat.
The ED further alleged that the “employees of Vivo India, including some Chinese nationals, did not cooperate with the search proceedings and tried to abscond, remove and hide digital devices which were retrieved by the search teams.”
As for Vivo India, the brand claims that it has been cooperating with authorities and is committed to full compliance with the Indian laws. China on Wednesday expressed hope that India would conduct the ongoing investigations against Vivo by the law and regulations and ensure a truly fair and non-discriminatory business environment to the country’s firms.
This is the second Chinese brand to have come under the ED radar this year, as the agency ordered the seizure of Rs 5,551 crore worth of deposits of Xiaomi India back in April 2022.
