A day after the Karnataka High Court restrained the Enforcement Directorate from seizing Rs 5,551.27 crore of Xiaomi India's money under allegations of violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), the ED issued a statement saying any claims of coercion by the mobile phone manufacturer were baseless.
"The allegations that the statement of the officials of Xiaomi India (were) taken under coercion by ED (are) untrue and baseless. The officials of the Xiaomi India deposed their statements before ED under FEMA voluntarily in the most conducive environment on various occasions. The statements were deposed by them on the basis of documents/information provided by the company during the course of investigation. Their statements corroborate with the written replies submitted to ED and the materials on record," the investigating agency said in the statement.
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ED added that no complaint was filed by the company officials "at any point of time during recording of statements at various occasions." The agency said the statement of the officials of the company was recorded on April 26, 2022, and the seizure order was passed on April 29. "It appears that allegation now made after passage of substantial time is an afterthought. The allegations are baseless and far from the facts," ED said.
Xiaomi, which sells mobile phones in India under the brand name MI, is accused by the ED of violating Section 4 of the FEMA Act by transferring money in the name of 'Technology Royalty' to three companies outside India--two in the US and one in China.
"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 of time," the statement added.
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