The Indian agency denies pressuring Xiaomi officials to make a statement
The Enforcement Directorate today denied allegations made by Xiaomi India that it was forced to give statements in an alleged illegal remittances case by the probe agency.
“The allegations that the statement of Xiaomi India officials was taken under duress by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are false and without merit. On several occasions, Xiaomi India officials voluntarily deposed their statements before the ED under FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) in the most conducive environment “The investigation agency issued a statement today.
According to Reuters, Xiaomi Corp, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer, claims its top executives were threatened with “physical violence” and coercion during questioning by the Enforcement Directorate.
According to Xiaomi’s filing dated May 4, officials from the Enforcement Directorate threatened former India Managing Director Manu Kumar Jain, current Chief Financial Officer Sameer BS Rao, and their families with “dire consequences” if they did not submit statements as requested by the agency.
However, the Enforcement Directorate stated today that the statements were false “They were deposed based on documents and information provided by the company during the investigation. Their statements are consistent with ED’s written responses and the materials on file.”
The investigation agency stated, “It is reiterated that ED is a professional agency with strong work ethics, and there was no coercion or threat to the officers of the company at any point in time.”
Xiaomi has been under investigation since February, and an Indian agency seized $725 million from Xiaomi’s India bank accounts last week, alleging that the company made illegal remittances abroad “in the guise of royalty” payments.
Xiaomi has denied any wrongdoing and claims that its royalty payments are legal. A judge heard Xiaomi lawyers on Thursday and put the Indian agency’s decision to freeze bank assets on hold. The next hearing will take place on May 12. When executives appeared for questioning multiple times in April, the company claims they were intimidated by India’s top law enforcement agency.
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