An authority appointed under the Foreign Exchange Management Act has confirmed that the Rs 5,551.27 crore the Enforcement Directorate had seized from the bank accounts of mobile manufacturing company Xiaomi Technology India in April, had been illegally transferred out of the country, the central agency said in a statement on Friday.
Xiaomi India is wholly owned subsidiary of the China-based Xiaomi group.
After the seizure on April 30, the Enforcement Directorate had alleged that the mobile phone maker had violated India’s foreign exchange law by illegally sending money to entities based abroad. The company allegedly remitted funds to one Xiaomi group entity, and two others that are based out of the United States but ultimately benefit the Chinese firm, the central agency had alleged.
Xiaomi India had procured completely manufactured mobile sets and other products from Indian producers but transferred an amount of Rs 5,551.27 crore to these three entities despite not availing any of their services, the Enforcement Directorate had also alleged.
On Friday, the agency said that an authority under the Foreign Exchange Management Act has found that the transfer of the money by Xiaomi India was in violation of Section 4 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act.
The Rs 5,551.27 crore seized by the Enforcement Directorate was the highest amount that has been confirmed to be illegally transferred out of the country, the agency said in a press release.
Xiaomi started its operations in India in the year 2014 and began remitting the money from 2015, the release stated. The Enforcement Directorate has also accused the company of providing “misleading information” to the banks while remitting the money.
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