India’s financial crimes agency said last Thursday that it has blocked 119 bank accounts related to vivo’s Indian operations and its affiliates that held Rs. 4.65 billion (about Rs. 390 million) as part of an investigation into suspected money laundering by vivo.
vivo has approached a court in New Delhi, India, seeking to reverse a decision by Indian law enforcement agencies to freeze its bank accounts. According to court documents, Vivo said the move was “illegal” and would harm the company’s business operations.
According to Reuters, an Indian court on Wednesday lifted a freeze on Chinese smartphone maker vivo’s bank accounts by the country’s financial crimes agency and ordered vivo to provide a bank guarantee of $119 million (about 801 million yuan).
But one thing led to another, as Reuters also reported that a government statement issued by India’s tax intelligence agency on Wednesday local time said an investigation found that Chinese smartphone maker OPPO had evaded customs duties worth INR43.9 billion (about CNY3.718 billion).
The statement said Indian investigators found evidence that OPPO wrongly used a tariff exemption on items imported for use in the production of cell phones, and that OPPO paid royalties that were not added to the transaction value of the imported goods, as required by Indian law.
An OPPO spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the Indian government said it had issued a notice to OPPO India requesting the tariffs, according to the report.
The Indian government statement said the revenue intelligence department also proposed penalties against OPPO India, its employees and OPPO China, but did not elaborate.
Chinese smartphone brands have come under increasing scrutiny from India in recent weeks, after Xiaomi was also investigated in India for allegedly sending illegal money abroad “under the guise of royalties.
