Offshore havens: 300 Indians on Pandora list
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 4
The government on Monday said a group of investigative agencies will probe the largest trove of leaked data exposing tax haven secrets called “Pandora Papers”.
Editorial: Pandora’s box
Data Leaked
- The latest expose is about offshore dealings of super rich
- It involves data of 2.94 terabytes based on a leak of records of 14 offshore service providers
The data allegedly revealed names of several Indians, including Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Ambani, Vinod Adani, Jackie Shroff, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Niira Radia and Satish Sharma.
More names are likely to be added as the information is being released in phases and the fine print of their holdings will be released a little later. Indications are that over 300 Indians are on the list. The “Pandora Papers” revealed the names of hundreds of top entertainers, sportspersons, serving and retired politicians and businesspersons across the world. Many of those named have either rejected the allegations of misdoings or maintained that their accounts were bonafide. They include Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw who said her husband’s offshore trust was legitimate.
The government, nevertheless, will investigate all names appearing in the series of expose and the probe will be monitored by a multi-agency group drawn from the CBDT, ED, RBI and FIU. It will be headed by the CBDT chairman.
The government will also proactively engage with foreign jurisdictions to get information about those named. It will also engage with an inter-governmental group that ensures experience sharing to effectively address tax risks associated with such leaks.
The government has already enacted the Black Money and Imposition of Tax Act after undisclosed income of over Rs 20,000 crore was detected in the investigations carried out in the Panama and Paradise Papers.
