Soon after Chinese phone maker Xiaomi accused it of threatening its employees during questioning, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) swung into action to issue a rebuttal and said the allegations were ‘untrue and baseless’.
The central agency, in its statement, said: “The allegations that the statement of the officials of Xiaomi India was taken under coercion by ED is untrue and baseless.”
“The officials of Xiaomi India deposed their statements before ED under FEMA voluntarily in the most conducive environment on various occasions,” it added.
Xiaomi’s statements, the ED said, were deposed by them on the basis of documents and information provided by the company during the course of an investigation.
“Their statements corroborate with the written replies submitted to ED and the material on record,” the central agency said.
It further added that the statement of Xiaomi global vice president Manu Kumar Jain was recorded on four occasions, 13, 14, 21 and 26 April while that of chief financial officer (CFO) Sameer BS Rao was recorded on six occasions.
Rao’s statements were recorded on 25 March, 14, 19, 21, 22 and 26 April. The ED said: “However, no complaint was filed by them at any point of time during recording of statements at various occasions.”
“Last statement of the officials of the company was recorded on 26.04.2022 and the seizure order was passed on 29.04.2022. It appears that allegation now made after passage of substantial time is an afterthought,” the ED said.
It 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 ED said.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
