Explained: Why has the ED raided Vivo, what was revealed?
FirstpostThe Enforcement Directorate has raided more than 40 places in a money-laundering case against Chinese smartphone company Vivo. It found that company ‘remitted’ almost 50 per cent of its turnover, which is Rs 62,476 crore, mainly to China in order to avoid paying taxes here The Enforcement Directorate raided more than 40 places across India on Tuesday and Wednesday in a money-laundering case against Chinese smartphone company Vivo and its 23 related firms. The ED on Thursday said the Indian arm of Chinese smartphone maker Vivo “remitted" almost 50 per cent of its turnover, which is Rs 62,476 crore, mainly to China in order to avoid paying taxes here. As per an NDTV report, the ED alleged that “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.” Not the first time Chinese companies have been under the scanner In April this year, the ED seized deposits worth Rs 5,551 crore of Vivo’s rival Xiaomi India, another Chinese smartphone giant, for allegedly violating foreign exchange rules. Premises of a number of these Chinese smartphone companies including Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, their distributors and linked associates were raided across the country by the I-T department in December last year and it later claimed to have detected alleged unaccounted income worth over Rs 6,500 crore due to violation of the Indian tax law and regulations.