PMLA case: Delhi court extends ED custody of Vivo India interim CEO, two others by 2 days

NEW DELHI: The Patiala House Court on Tuesday extended the Enforcement Directorate custody of three Vivo-India executives by two days. The executives are being investigated for money laundering in connection with the Chinese smartphone maker and others.

The three accused, including the interim CEO, were freshly arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an ongoing investigation related to a money laundering probe by the central agency.

The accused, who were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on December 22, 2023, were identified as Hong Xuquan alias Terry, interim CEO of VIVO India; Harinder Dahiya, Chief Financial Officer of VIVO India and Hemant Munjal, VIVO's consultant.

On Tuesday, Additional Sessions Judge Aparna Swami, after hearing the submissions at length from both sides, decided to send all three accused to 2 days of further remand to ED.

Advocate Manish Jain and Simon Benjamin appreciated the Enforcement Directorate in the matter and Senior Advocates Siddharth Aggarwal and Arvind Nayyar appeared for the accused persons in the matter.

In this case, the Enforcement Directorate arrested four accused in October, including a Chinese national and the MD of Lava International.

Recently, the Patiala House Court of Delhi took cognizance of a prosecution complaint (chargesheet) filed by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case related to the Chinese mobile company Vivo involving Chinese national Guangwen Kuang, Lava International's MD Hariom Rai, Nitin Garg and Rajan Malik under the different sections of the Money Laundering Act.

According to the sources, ED has also named VIVO Company as an accused in the matter of allegedly cheating the Government of India. It also stated that the company has set up an intricate network in India.

According to the ED, certain Chinese shareholders of Grand Prospect International Communication Private Ltd incorporated the company based on forged identification documents and falsified addresses.

During the inquiry, certain fraudulent activities were found by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

The said company was not reported as a subsidiary of Vivo in the official records, whereas the said company publicly projects itself to be a subsidiary of Vivo, said ED.

ED further alleged that Director and shareholder Zhang Jie used a false driving licence to apply for a Director Identification Number (DIN) for giving his Shillong address and also used his fake driving licence to open the bank account.

With the allegations of cheating, an FIR in Police Station Kalkaji, South East Delhi, was registered under Section 417/120B/420 IPC and another FIR was also registered under Section 417/420/468/471/120B IPC by the Economic Offence Wing, Delhi Police, based on the complaint filed by Manjit Singh, the then Deputy Registrar of Companies, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, NCT of Delhi.

ED further alleged that soon after the incorporation of Vivo India, 19 more companies, including GPICPL, were incorporated across India, completely controlled by Chinese nationals.

The accused, Bin Luo, was the founder and first director of Vivo India, GPICPL and all other 18 entities at the time of their incorporation and the accused, Nitin Garg, had assisted in the incorporation of most of the companies of Vivo Group.

According to the Enforcement Directorate, raids were on the premises of the accused on October 9 and seized cash amounting to more than Rs 10 lakhs and arrested four accused, who have been identified as Guangwen Kyang alias Andrew Kuang, a Chinese national, Hari Om Rai, the MD of Lava International, Rajan Malik, and Nitin Garg, a Chartered Accountant.

The probe revealed that the PMLA investigation by ED was initiated by registering a money laundering case on February 3, 2022.