Vivo has come under scrutiny of the Indian government. The company is currently under investigation for money laundering charges. And now, several locations related to its have been raided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
According to a Live Mint report, ED has conducted raids at offices and firms that are linked to the Chinese smartphone maker in India. Interestingly, this news follows after another Chinese brand, Xiaomi, was also subject to similar raids in the country. As of right now, the ED has not revealed any official details regarding the search operations, but these were reportedly carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at Vivo India’s office.
A separate report from Economic Times revealed that one of the brands distributor in Jammu and Kashmir have also come under the radar of the ED after the government found that at least two of the company’s shareholders had submitted forged documents with false Indian addresses. Vivo India has yet to respond to any statements regarding the ED raids as of right now. The company is one of the top five smartphone brands in the country and has had a strong presence in the offline market.
Similarly, the ED had also conducted raids into Xiaomi and its related locations over charges of tax evasion case by the Income Tax Department. The government ended up seizing 5,550 crore INR (roughly 701 million US Dollars) in total assets. The investigation began in February and the ED claimed that Xiaomi India remitted foreign currency equivalent to 5551 crore INR to three foreign based entities under the “guise of royalty.”
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