A Delhi court has ordered the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to take three top executives of Vivo India, including the interim CEO, into custody for three days in connection with a money laundering case. The individuals arrested are Vivo India interim CEO Hong Xuquan, Vivo chief financial officer (CFO) Harinder Dahiya, and consultant Hemant Munjal. They will appear before the court on December 26 after the conclusion of their custody period.
This action follows the arrests made earlier in October, when Lava International MD Hari Om Rai, Chinese national Guangwen (also known as Andrew Kuang), and Chartered Accountants Nitin Garg and Rajan Malik were apprehended.
Vivo expressed concern regarding the arrests, claiming that they signify ongoing harassment and create an atmosphere of uncertainty in the industry. The company intends to utilize legal measures to challenge the accusations.
The court had already taken cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the ED, which named the four previously arrested individuals. Consequently, Special Judge Kiran Gupta summoned the accused, who were in judicial custody, to appear in court on February 19, 2024. The Delhi High Court had recently dismissed the habeas corpus petitions filed by three individuals linked to the money laundering case against Vivo.
The petitioners argued that their detention in Tihar jail was illegal since no court order extended their judicial custody beyond December 7. In response, the ED explained that a charge sheet was filed on December 6, and the accused were presented via video conference on December 7.
The court was informed that due to a transfer, the accused were not physically brought before ASJ-04, who subsequently adjourned the case and issued production warrants. After carefully reviewing the facts, Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Shalinder Kaur concluded that there was no break in the custody of the accused, as production warrants were issued by the trial court to ensure their presence on December 13, therefore ensuring lawful judicial custody.
The court upheld the ED’s stance, stating that the legal representatives of the accused were present and no objections were raised during the issuance of production warrants. It clarified that continuous custody is maintained when a valid reason prevents physical appearance, as was the case in this instance.
Earlier, a source revealed that the arrests were made after the ED conducted searches at the premises of the four accused and found cash amounting to Rs 10 lakh. The ED’s action came more than a year after it searched 48 locations across India belonging to Vivo Mobiles India Private Ltd and its associated companies, busting a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and several Indian firms.
As per the ED, Vivo Mobiles India Pvt Ltd was established on August 1, 2014, as a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based company Multi Accord Ltd, and was registered in ROC Delhi. GPICPL, on the other hand, was registered on December 3, 2014, at ROC Shimla, with addresses in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, and Gandhi Nagar, Jammu.
The ED initiated a PMLA investigation by registering a money laundering case on February 3, 2022, after an FIR was filed at the Kalkaji police station in Delhi by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs against GPICPL, its director, shareholders, and other professionals, based on a complaint.
The arrests of the top Vivo India executives signify a major development in the ongoing money laundering case. The court’s decision to grant custody to the ED highlights the seriousness of the charges against the accused. The investigation will continue as more details regarding the case emerge.
Disclaimer: This article is generated by OpenAI’s GPT-3 model without explicit human intervention. It may not always reflect the most up-to-date news.
