The Delhi High Court allowed 14 entities connected to Chinese smartphone maker Vivo, according to the Enforcement Directorate, to run their frozen bank accounts subject to maintaining the balance which stood in the accounts as on the date of ED’s search in a money laundering probe.
These entities are asked to provide details to the agency about their remittances made from the frozen bank accounts after every 48 hours. Justice Yashwant Varma said subject to the petitioner companies maintaining a balance as was available on the day of freezing the individual bank accounts, the debit freeze order of ED can be modified.
The HC order comes less than a month after the court on July 13 had permitted the Chinese company to operate its various bank accounts frozen by the ED in connection with the money laundering probe subject to furnishing of a bank guarantee of Rs 950 crore with the agency.
Moreover, as ED had contended that the proceeds of crime with respect to Vivo, at that time, was quantified at Rs 1,200 crore, the high court had also asked the company to maintain a balance of Rs 251 crore in the bank accounts.
During today’s hearing, the entities connected to Vivo challenged the debit freeze orders passed by the ED which has claimed that these companies are the agents of Vivo. While the counsel for the entities argued that they are not at all related to Vivo and only purchase goods from the company and sell it further, ED’s counsel contended these entities have assailed the order after expiry of 30 days and this batch of firms is not confined to proceeds of crime quantified at Rs 1,200 crore.
The 14 entities which have approached the high court are — Rui Chuang Technologies Pvt Ltd, Unimay Electronic Pvt Ltd, Technology Transforms Pvt Ltd, Junwei Electronic Pvt Ltd, Yingjia Communication Pvt Ltd, Joinmay Electronic Pvt Ltd, Huijin Electronic India Pvt Ltd, Haijin Trade India Pvt Ltd, Fangs Technology Pvt Ltd, Iqonic Mobile Pvt Ltd, Aohua Mobile India Pvt Ltd, Joinmay Electronics Pvt Ltd, Hisoa Electronic Pvt Ltd and Haicheng Mobile Pvt Ltd.
Meanwhile, Vivo has sought quashing of the freezing order as well as permission to deal with its frozen bank accounts for making payments towards certain liabilities. Last month, the probe agency had raided several places across the country in the money laundering investigation against Vivo and its related firms.
The searches were carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in several states, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Maharashtra.
