Delhi court extends ED custody of Vivo India interim CEO, 2 others in PMLA case by a day

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday extended, by one day, the ED custody of three top executives in a money laundering case against the Chinese smartphone-maker Vivo.

The three accused -- Vivo India interim CEO Hong Xuquan, Vivo Chief Financial Officer Harinder Dahiya and consultant Hemant Munjal -- will now be produced before the court on Friday.

The accused were presented before Additional Sessions Judge Aparna Swami of Patiala House Courts on expiry of their previously-extended two-day Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody.

Contending that the accused were required to be confronted with the other accused arrested in the case earlier, the ED had sought their remand for five days.

The arrests were made in the case months after the four accused — Lava International MD Hari Om Rai, Chinese national Guangwen alias Andrew Kuang, Chartered Accountants Nitin Garg and Rajan Malik — were arrested on October 10 this year.

A Vivo spokesperson had earlier told IANS that "we are deeply alarmed by the current action of the authorities. The recent arrests demonstrate continued harassment and as such induce an environment of uncertainty among the wider industry landscape. We are resolute in using all legal avenues to address and challenge these accusations".

On the submission of senior counsel for the accused that their clients were taken in the vehicle of the ED on December 21 evening and had not accompanied the ED officials voluntarily and are in custody of the agency since that day, the court had directed the Director of ED to conduct an enquiry in this regard and file the report on Tuesday along with the relevant CCTV footage, if any.

"The Director concerned shall also give a report as to the exact time since the accused persons were in custody of the ED and time of their arrest," the judge had said.

On Tuesday, the counsel for the accused argued that the report has been filed in a sealed cover and that no copy of it has been provided, failing transparency in the matter. To this, the ED said that certain information in the report is confidential.

However, the court said that the copy be provided to the accused counsel, but directed that it should not be leaked.

On December 20, the court took cognisance of the charge sheet filed by the financial probe agency naming the four accused.

The court had summoned the accused, who are in judicial custody, on February 19, 2024.

In response to the ED's allegation that there has been recovery of several incriminating documents, counsel for Guangwen had argued: "The nature of such documents has not been specified and why these are relevant to the investigation was not apprised or substantiated by the ED. It was only submitted that they relate to incorporation of companies which is not an offence."

Earlier, a source told IANS that the arrests were made after the financial probe agency carried out searches at the premises of the four accused and recovered cash to the tune of Rs 10 lakh. The ED action came more than a year after it carried out searches at 48 locations across the country belonging to Vivo Mobiles India Private Ltd and its 23 associated companies such as Grand Prospect International Communication Pvt Ltd (GPICPL), and claimed that it has busted a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian firms.

According to the ED, Vivo Mobiles India Pvt Ltd was incorporated on August 1, 2014 as a subsidiary of Multi Accord Ltd, a Hong Kong-based company, and was registered at ROC Delhi. GPICPL was registered on December 3, 2014 at ROC Shimla, with registered addresses of Solan, Himachal Pradesh, and Gandhi Nagar, Jammu.

The PMLA investigation by the ED was initiated by registering a money laundering case on February 3, 2022 on the basis of an FIR registered at the Kalkaji Police Station in the national Capital by Delhi Police against GPICPL, its director, shareholders and certifying professionals etc., on the basis of a complaint filed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.