Vivo PMLA case: Court extends ED custody of accused by three days

Additional Sessions Judge sent accused to 3-day custody of ED after the anti-money laundering agency sought their remand for 10 days for further custodial interrogation

A court here on Friday extended by three days the ED custody of four people arrested in a money laundering case against Chinese smart phone maker Vivo, including the managing director of Lava International mobile company and a Chinese national.

Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala sent the accused to three-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after the anti-money laundering agency sought their remand for 10 days for further custodial interrogation.

The court had on October 10 remanded them in ED's custody for three days.

The four accused- Hari Om Rai, the MD of Lava International company, Chinese national Guangwen alias Andrew Kuang, and Chartered Accountants Nitin Garg and Rajan Malik- were produced in the court on Friday on expiry of their initial custody.

During the proceedings, the prosecution sought extension of their custody so they could be interrogated further. It said they had to be confronted with 13 witnesses and digital data from multiple devices had to be extracted.

The defence counsel opposed the agency's plea, claiming the ED was engaging in "flagrant violation of procedures".

The four accused were taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The agency had raided the company and individuals linked to it in July last year, claiming to have busted a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian companies.

The ED had then alleged that a whopping Rs 62,476 crore was "illegally" transferred by Vivo to China in order to avoid payment of taxes in India.