Xiaomi’s Allegations of Coercion Baseless, Enforcement Directorate Says

After an allegation filed by Xiaomi dated May 4th, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has officially made a statement that the allegations are “baseless” and that the agency tried to record statements of Xiaomi India’s top executives under coercion.

ED says that the allegations made by Xiaomi India are ‘baseless’

According to the latest update, the crime-fighting agency of India, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sent out a statement that the allegations made by Xiaomi India are baseless. It comes as a response to Xiaomi’s claim at the Karnataka High Court that the top executives at Xiaomi India were subjected to physical violence during the questioning at the ED office in Bengaluru.

ED further said that ED is a professional agency with a strong work ethic. There was no coercion or violent threat to any employees during the investigations at any point in time. Top executives at Xiaomi India were deposed at the ED under FEMA guidelines and the questions were in a most conducive environment.

The Enforcement Directorate further adds that during various occasions of deposition, there were no complaints. The last round of questions concluded on April 26th and these allegations from Xiaomi India are coming after that which appears to be a well-sought-after move from the Chinese smartphone maker.

ED deposed Xiaomi Global VP Manu Kumar Jain on four occasions i.e. April 13, 14, 21, and 26 while the current CFO Sameer B S Rao was deposed on six occasions i.e. March 25; April 14, 19, 21, 22, and 26. ED has seized Xiaomi India, alleging it was violating Indian foreign exchange law with a fund amounting to INR 5,551 crore as it showed that these payments were remitted abroad as a part of royalty payments.

ED took it to the Karnataka High Court to seize the funds, however, the High Court has stayed this order sparing Xiaomi India a few more days to iron out the creases.

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