Vivo probe widens to role of three chartered accountants and a company secretary

Indian agencies are probing the local support that two Chinese nationals got in incorporating a company which projected itself as a subsidiary of smartphone maker Vivo.

Two chartered accountants and a company secretary are already under the scanner of the investigators, people in the know said.

The company, Grand Prospect International Communication Pvt Ltd, is a distributor of Chinese manufacturer Vivo's products in Jammu & Kashmir. Forged documents have allegedly been used for the registration of the company and the procurement of director identification numbers.


The three professionals had certified the documents despite knowing that they were forged and filled with "false information", the people claimed.

The trio also knowingly filed documents containing false information on behalf of the two Chinese nationals - Zhengshen Ou and Zhang Jie - with the ministry of corporate affairs, they alleged.

'Subsidiary' Created for Fradulent Business
The Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police filed a case against the company on a complaint from the deputy registrar of companies in December.

On Tuesday, the Enforcement Directorate raided nearly four dozen locations linked to Vivo and its related entities including Grand Prospect. The central agency is probing if any shell companies were used to launder money.

Vivo on Tuesday told ET that it was committed to be fully compliant with laws and was cooperating with the authorities to provide them with all the required information.

The two Chinese nationals are shareholders of Grand Prospect. The company falsely projected itself to be a subsidiary of Vivo and was incorporated to conduct fraudulent businesses, according to the deputy registrar's complaint filed with the police.

A probe by the deputy registrar of companies for Delhi and Haryana found that the two Chinese nationals used the professional address of a chartered accountant in New Delhi. The probe also allegedly revealed that the CAs facilitated incorporation of the company by "witnessing" the signatures and documents of the Chinese nationals.

The company secretary, the investigation by the deputy registrar or companies revealed, allegedly certified processes relating to proactive enforcement and compliance of the legal requirements under the Companies Act without verifying them.

The deputy registrar's probe also found that all the current directors of Grand Prospect had failed to complete the KYC requirement and that their director identification numbers were deactivated.

In its complaint to the Delhi Police in December, the deputy registrar of companies said non-compliances of law by a professional CA or company secretary was a serious offence.

The probe agencies are also looking at if there were any accomplices for the two CAs and the company secretary.