Court extends ED custody of 3 Vivo-India executives

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday extended by two days the ED custody of three Vivo-India executives in a money laundering case against the Chinese smartphone maker and others.

Additional Sessions Judge Aparna Swami extended the custody of Interim CEO of Vivo-India Hong Xuquan alias Terry, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Harinder Dahiya and consultant Hemant Munjal on an application moved by the Enforcement Directorate.

The accused were produced before the court on the expiry of their three-day ED custody granted earlier.

China had said on Monday it will provide consular protection and assistance to the arrested employees working for smartphone maker Vivo in India.

The federal anti-money laundering agency had earlier arrested four people — mobile company Lava International’s MD Hari Om Rai, Chinese national Guangwen alias Andrew Kuang, and chartered accountants Nitin Garg and Rajan Malik — in the case.

They are in judicial custody at present.

It had raided Vivo-India and people linked to it in July last year and claimed to have busted “a major

money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian companies”. The ED had then alleged that Rs 62,476 crore was “illegally” transferred by Vivo-India to China to avoid payment of taxes in India.