Vivo sent Rs 62,476-cr worth turnover to China to avoid getting taxed in India: ED
New Delhi, Jul 8: A whopping Rs 62,476 crore has been "illegally" transferred by smartphone maker Vivo to China in order to avoid payment of taxes in India, the Enforcement Directorate said Thursday, as it claimed to have busted a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian companies.
This money is almost half of Vivo's turnover of Rs 1,25,185 crore, it said without stating the time period of the transaction.
The crackdown on the leading Chinese company came after the federal probe agency found that three Chinese nationals, all of whom "left" India during 2018-21, and one other person from that country incorporated as many as 23 companies in India in which they were also helped by a Chartered Accountant, Nitin Garg.
Among the foreigners, one identified as Bin Lou was an ex-director of Vivo and, according to the ED, he left India in April, 2018. Two others -- Zhengshen Ou and Zhang Jie -- left the country in 2021, it said.
"These (23) companies are found to have transferred huge amounts of funds to Vivo India. Further, out of the total sale proceeds of Rs 1,25,185 crore, Vivo India remitted Rs 62,476 crore or almost 50 per cent of the turnover out of India, mainly to China," the ED said in a statement.
These remittances, it added, were made in order to "disclose huge losses in Indian incorporated companies to avoid payment of taxes in India."
The action is being seen as part of the Union government's steps to tighten checks on Chinese entities and the continued crackdown on such firms and their linked Indian operatives that are allegedly indulging in serious financial crimes like money laundering and tax evasion while operating here.
The stepped-up action against the Chinese-backed companies or entities operating in India comes in the backdrop of the military stand-off between the two countries along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh that has been ongoing for more than two years now.
The statement came after the ED raided 48 locations of Vivo Mobiles India Pvt. Ltd. and its associated companies across the country on July 5.
Vivo had said on Tuesday that "as a responsible corporate, we are committed to be fully compliant with laws."
The agency said while it followed "all due procedures as per law" during the raids conducted under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), it alleged "employees of Vivo India, including some Chinese nationals, did not cooperate with the search proceedings and tried to abscond, remove and hide digital devices which were retrieved by the search teams."
Recently, Indian intelligence agencies had found that the data of domestic customers was being "illegally" transferred by Chinese companies to servers kept in that country.
The ED also said post the raids, it seized funds worth Rs 465 crore kept in 119 bank accounts by various entities involved in the case, Rs 73 lakh cash and 2 kg gold bars.
The agency filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), the ED equivalent of a police FIR, on February 3 after studying a Delhi Police FIR (registered at Kalkaji police station) of December last year against a associated company of Vivo, Grand Prospect International Communication Pvt Ltd (GPICPL), its directors, shareholders and some others professionals.
The police complaint was filed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs alleging that GPICPL and its shareholders used "forged" identification documents and "falsified" addresses at the time of incorporation of the company in December, 2014.
This company had its registered address in Solan (Himachal Pradesh), Gandhinagar (Gujarat) and Jammu (J&K). The three Chinese nationals, mentioned above, incorporated this company while a fourth one, Zhixin Wei, also opened four companies to carry out similar transactions.
"The allegations (made by the ministry) were found to be true as the investigation revealed that the addresses mentioned by the directors of GPICPL did not belong to them, but in fact it was a government building and house of a senior bureaucrat," the ED said.
It said Vivo Mobiles Pvt Ltd was incorporated on August 1, 2014 as a subsidiary of Multi Accord Ltd, a Hong Kong-based company.
The ED identified the other 22 companies as: Rui Chuang Technologies Pvt Ltd (Ahmedabad), V Dream Technology & Communication Pvt Ltd (Hyderabad), Regenvo Mobile Pvt Ltd (Lucknow), Fangs Technology Pvt Ltd (Chennai), Weiwo Communication Pvt Ltd (Bangalore), Bubugao Communication Pvt Ltd (Jaipur), Haicheng Mobile (India) Pvt Ltd (Delhi), Joinmay Mumbai Electronics Pvt. Ltd (Mumbai), Yingjia Communication Pvt Ltd (Kolkata) and Jie Lian Mobile India Pvt. Ltd. (Indore).
The rest are Vigour Mobile India Pvt Ltd (Gurugram), Hisoa Electronic Pvt Ltd (Pune), Haijin Trade India Pvt Ltd (Kochi), Rongsheng Mobile India Pvt Ltd (Guwahati), Morefun Communication Pvt Ltd (Patna), Aohua Mobile India Pvt Ltd (Raipur), Pioneer Mobile Pvt Ltd (Bhubaneswar), Unimay Electronic Pvt Ltd (Nagpur), Junwei Electronic Pvt Ltd (Aurangabad), Huijin Electronic India Pvt Ltd (Ranchi), MGM Sales Pvt Ltd (Dehradun) and Joinmay Electronic Pvt Ltd (Mumbai).
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
===================
The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
