India seizes $ 58.7 million from Chinese smartphone maker Vivo over tax evasion

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India’s anti-money laundering agency has announced that it has seized 119 bank accounts, including $ 4.65 billion ($ 58.75 million), from an Indian company affiliated with Chinese smartphone maker Vivo for tax evasion. did.

According to the Indian Executive Office, Vivo India remitted Rs 62.47 billion ($ 7.9 million) of total overseas sales, or almost 50%, mainly to China.

“These remittances were made to disclose the huge losses of an Indian incorporated company to avoid paying taxes in India,” the board said. statement.

At 48 locations and 23 related entities belonging to Vivo India on July 5, after initial investigations revealed that shareholders were using “counterfeit IDs and forged addresses at the time of incorporation” I did a search.

Employees of Vivo India, including some Chinese, did not cooperate with the search process and tried to “abandon, delete, hide digital devices,” the agency said.

He also claimed that the address provided by the board of directors of Grand Prospect International Communication, one of Vivo India’s shareholders, was a government building and the residence of the highest bureaucrats.

Vivo India was founded in August 2014 as a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Multi Accord Ltd. According to the Directorate General, the three directors, Zhengshen Ou, Bin Lou and Zhang Jie, all fled India in 2018 and 2021.

The Epoch Times contacted Vivo India for comment.

Response of the Chinese Embassy

The Chinese embassy in India has criticized Indian authorities for “frequent investigations” of Chinese companies, saying that such a move “hinders the improvement of India’s business environment” and “cools confidence and motivation” of companies in other countries. Stated.

“We are closely tracking this issue,” said the embassy. I told reporters, He added that the Chinese government urged Chinese companies to comply with foreign laws and regulations.

A Vivo India study found that the board of directors attacked Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi in May, pretending to pay royalties for the company’s illegal remittances to three foreign companies for $ 725 million. It was done after the seizure.

Xiaomi later stated that royalty payments were “legal and truthful” because they were used “for the technology and IP within the license used in the Indian version of the product.”

India last year Retained that ban 59 Chinese mobile applications, including ByteDance’s video sharing app TikTok, Tencent’s messaging app Wechat, and Alibaba’s UC Browser, raise national security and sovereignty concerns.

Aldograph Redley

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Aldgra Fredly is a Malaysia-based freelance writer featuring the Epoch Times Asia Pacific News.

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