Again, two senior Vivo execs arrested in India in ongoing money laundering probe

Two senior employees of Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo have been arrested in India. The arrest is coming on the heels of the earlier arrest of four executives of Vivo India including a Chinese national for alleged money laundering. A source from Vivo India says the company has vowed to challenge the arrest legally. Vivo, in a statement, said, it was deeply alarmed by the current action of the authorities.

India’s financial crimes agency, the Enforcement Directorate made the arrests but no formal statement has been made yet. The arrest is yet another indication of increased scrutiny of Chinese businesses in the subcontinent since 2020. Vivo says the recent arrests demonstrate continued harassment and induce an environment of uncertainty within the industry landscape. The arrested individuals were arraigned in a Delhi court on Saturday and then sent to the agency’s custody. The unnamed individuals will again appear in court on December 26, according to unnamed inside sources.

Beijing and New Delhi have had a fractious relationship for a while since the deadly border clash in 2020. The Sino-Indian border dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute over the sovereignty of two relatively large and several smaller pieces of territory between China and India. India has ramped up scrutiny of Chinese businesses and investments in India and several arrests have been made previously. Economic relations continue between both countries and India has a large trade deficit that is skewed towards China.

The charges against the accused persons are not yet known. The Enforcement Directorate has not also provided any detail relating to the arrest and subsequent arraignment of the two individuals. The nationality of the arrested persons cannot be ascertained at this time. It is also unclear whether Vivo provided legal representation for the two senior officials in court.

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