On Tuesday, July 5, 2022, the Enforcement Directorate searched 44 locations throughout the nation as part of a money-laundering investigation into the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo and associated businesses, according to officials.
The searches are being conducted in several states, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, and others, in accordance with sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
After learning of a recent FIR by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing against a distributor of the agency based in Jammu and Kashmir, where it was claimed that a small number of Chinese shareholders in that company had faked their identification documents, the federal agency filed a money laundering case.
The ED suspect this alleged forgery was done to hide illegally obtained funds using paper or shell companies, with some of these “proceeds of crime” being diverted abroad or invested in other businesses while evading Indian tax and enforcement authorities.
The action is seen as part of the Union government’s ongoing crackdown on Chinese entities and their Indian operatives who engage in serious financial crimes such as money laundering and tax evasion while operating in India.