Tech Planet on May 8, recently, the news that Xiaomi was seized by the Indian government for alleged illegal remittance of about 4.8 billion yuan sparked hot debate among netizens. Indian authorities said that the investigation found that Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Group had illegally remitted money to foreign entities under the guise of paying royalties, and the authorities had seized 725 million dollars from Xiaomi Group's local bank account in India.
In response, Xiaomi India issued an official statement in response, saying that all Xiaomi India operations strictly comply with local laws and regulations and will work closely with the government to clarify any misunderstandings.
Later, Reuters reported that an Indian court lifted the freeze on Xiaomi's $725 million in assets.
According to a new report from IT Home, Xiaomi said its top executives faced threats of "physical violence" while being questioned by India's financial crime fighting agency. According to the report, Xiaomi executives were intimidated by law enforcement agencies when they appeared in court for questioning on several occasions in April. Jain and Rao were "threatened on some occasions ...... If they did not provide statements as requested by the agency, they would face dire consequences, including arrest, impaired career prospects, criminal liability and physical violence.
Xiaomi also said its executives "were able to resist the pressure for a period of time, (but) under this extreme and hostile abuse and pressure, they eventually gave up and involuntarily made some statements."
After the Reuters report was published, India's Enforcement Directorate issued a statement saying that Xiaomi's allegations were "untrue and baseless" and that Xiaomi executives had testified voluntarily "under the most favorable circumstances. The Indian Enforcement Agency also said they are a "professional organization with strong ethics and at no time were there any coercion or threats against the company's officials.
Xiaomi declined to comment, citing pending legal action, and it is understood that the next hearing is scheduled for May 12.
