‘Panama Papers’: Black money SIT to investigate list

New Delhi

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money on Monday said it will investigate thoroughly the reported secret list of about 500 prominent Indians including actors, politicians and businessmen who have allegedly stashed money in offshore entities in tax haven Panama.

“Investigations are being carried out. We are going to investigate it (the list) thoroughly,” SIT Chairman Justice (retd) M B Shah told PTI.

Asked if the SIT had any information on these names, he said the panel got it on Monday.

“No. We got the information just now,” he said.

The Vice Chairman of the panel, Justice (retd) Arijit Pasayat, said they have asked agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, IT Department and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence to make an assessment of the list and prepare a report in this regard.

“We want to know what is the truth behind these. The SIT did not have these reports. Maybe, the investigative agencies had. So, once they submit a report to us then we can take the required action,” Pasayat said.

The list has been brought by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in collaboration with news publications across the globe including India and pertains to offshore investments made by Indians between a period of 1977 and 2015.

The latest list, after similar ones came in the the past like ‘Swiss leaks’ and the HSBC-list related to Indians, claims it has sourced data in connection to millions of documents which show heads of state, criminals and celebrities using “secret hideaways” in tax haven country of Panama.

However, ICIJ adds a disclaimer that there are also “legitimate uses for offshore companies”.

“The Panama papers expose the internal operations of one of the world’s leading firms in incorporation of offshore entities, Panama-headquartered Mossack Fonseca. The 2.6 terabytes of data that make up the Panama Papers files were obtained by German newspaper S ddeutsche Zeitung and shared with ICIJ and more than 100 media partners…

“ICIJ will release the full list of companies and people linked to them in early May,” the ICIJ said on its web portal as it called the leaks “The Panama Papers”.

Action will be taken against unlawful accounts abroad: Jaitley

New Delhi

Government on Monday declared that action will be taken against “unlawful” accounts held abroad by Indians and constituted a multi-agency group to continuously monitor information in the wake of Panama Papers that named 500 people including film actors and industrialists who have allegedly stashed money in offshore entities.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the issue with him this morning and on his advise the group has been set up, which includes officials from CBDT, RBI and FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit).

“The multi-agency group will comprise various government agencies – the CBDT, FIU, FT&TR (Foreign Tax and Tax Research) and RBI. They will continuously monitor these (accounts) and whichever accounts are found to be unlawful, strict action as per existing laws will be taken,” he told reporters.

Jaitley comments came on a day the Indian Express carried a report based on leaked documents of a Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca which is said to feature links of over 500 Indians to offshore firms.

The newspaper claimed that the list included foundations and trusts and passport details of 234 Indians.

Jaitley said after Monday’s revelations, more names may come out in the next few days.

“I welcome this investigation. I think it is a healthy step that these kind of exposes are being made. I have been repeatedly saying that the world is now going to increasingly become more transparent, countries are cooperating with each other and slowly all this information is going to come out as a result of various global initiatives which have been launched,” he said.

He said that Prime Minister has spoken to him in this regard and after his advice the government has constituted a multi-agency group to monitor the information and to collect further information in this regard.

The list has been released by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which added a disclaimer that there are also “legitimate uses for offshore companies”. PTI