Vivo PMLA case: Court extends judicial custody of 4 accused till Nov 23

A court here on Thursday extended the judicial custody of four accused, including the managing director of Lava International mobile company and a Chinese national, till November 23 in a money laundering case against Chinese smartphone maker Vivo.

Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala passed the order on an application moved the Enforcement Directorate.

The four arrested are: Hari Om Rai, the MD of Lava International, Chinese national Guangwen alias Andrew Kuang, and chartered accountants Nitin Garg and Rajan Malik.

Defence advocate Nitesh Rana opposed the ED's application for extension of their judicial custody, saying it cannot be done "mechanically and automatically.

There must be application of mind," Rana told the court.

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

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