India reveals names in quest for hidden foreign assets
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NEW DELHI: India’s government revealed on Monday the names of three businessmen accused of illegally stashing funds in foreign bank accounts as it seeks to recover billions of untaxed dollars parked abroad.
The right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, which took power in May, had accused the previous Congress government of failing to get tough on the issue that has become a political lightning rod.
The government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court on Monday naming three people, including Pradip Burman, a former director of the Dabur food group, for allegedly hiding money abroad.
The government has been under pressure to identify offenders following petitions from activists including prominent lawyer Subramanian Swamy, who has waged an aggressive campaign to prosecute wealthy people with undeclared funds offshore.
The government said in its affidavit it was “committed to disclose the names of persons holding illegal money... following due process of law”.
BJP spokesman Sambit Patra called disclosure of the names an “historic day”.
“Names are gradually being declared. Today is the beginning of the end for those who illegally stashed money abroad,” Patra told reporters.
But opposition Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh accused the BJP of “selective revelation” of names and said the drip-feed process smacked of “blackmail, not black money”.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley last week said Congress could face “some embarrassment” when names of people holding illicit foreign accounts was made public.
Lawyer Swamy said he did not understand why the government had not disclosed the identities of all alleged offenders.
“I do not see any legal issues in releasing all 700 names,” he told CNN-IBN television network.
In 2011 French authorities informed India of around 700 Indians with Swiss accounts. The information came from a data leak by a bank employee. Other funds are believed stashed in tax havens such as Lichtenstein.
Soon after taking office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set up a team of regulators and ex-judges to repatriate illicit funds.
The three names had been revealed because “prosecution has been launched under the income tax law”, the government said.
Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2014
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Comments (48) Closed
Oct 28, 2014 09:25am
Good luck india... Our finance minister still soughting ways how to recover it albeit they have spent more time in govt as compared to BJP in india...
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Oct 28, 2014 09:33am
India will find billions of hidden money stashed in the USA where NRI's are being used as lobbying agents funneling vast funds into American bank accounts to "sweeten" many American Congress member's pot.
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Oct 28, 2014 09:34am
reveal all names.when you use a country to generate wealth,you are bound to pay back the country to facilitate the services running.In the same context India should make mandatory got service for doctors who study at the expense of govt funds.Many escape this citing higher studies abroad and settle there.Though new laws are in place,most of the doctors are reluctant to join.
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Oct 28, 2014 09:46am
I am sure Modi govt. will reveal all the names, including those of BJP ministers and will come out clean and a nationalist Party .... Proud of our PM
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Oct 28, 2014 10:16am
It is a good beginning..when we can expect such action from pakisthan government?
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Oct 28, 2014 10:16am
This money belongs to the people of India. In the next 10 days all names will be revealed. We must get this money back. Whether its Congress or BJP or any industrialist, all are equal in the eyes of the law. I am proud that we are doing this. Its a fantastic beginning. Let the metaphorical hangings begin.
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Oct 28, 2014 10:38am
A positive step. But too early to confirm if they would also unveil the big fish and if they do so, when.
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Oct 28, 2014 11:00am
Wish we can say the same thing about our own Prime Minister. He himself has stashed money abroad so how can he reveal any names.
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Oct 28, 2014 11:16am
@ citizen
... when the sun rises from the west. Stay hopeful.
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Oct 28, 2014 11:20am
Within no time the names of Modi, Jaitly and other BJP ministers will be on the list.
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Oct 28, 2014 11:36am
@citizen plz stop daydreaming. In Pakistan all types of notables and nobles (like politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats, judges and armed forces personnel) are guilty of this offense. This is one of those issues where they all collude to prevent any effective action. May be someone like Imran Khan can do this, provided these notables and nobles allow him to come to power. Of course they would resist his coming into power and wouldn't mind spending a portion of ill gotten wealth (if the tax payer money is not available) to do that. The solution is that common man will have to get into the groove and do whatever he/she can defend his right. Till then we will keep paying taxes to fill those coffers abroad.
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Oct 28, 2014 11:46am
@Qamar . Your comment reveals the frustration of an infertile mind which is incapable of grasping even the obvious. Ifanyhing which Modi cannot be accused of, it is corruption.
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Oct 28, 2014 11:47am
I wish, pray and hope , one fine day we Pakistanis would hear same sort of news. But it is impossible in PML-N or PPP government.
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Oct 28, 2014 11:54am
@Qamar I don't know about others but Modi has not much wealth. He did not entered politics to earn money and has nothing to lose. His mother lives in a small house.
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Oct 28, 2014 12:01pm
@Qamar Modi is accused of many things, anti muslim, anti secular and so on. But one thing even his harshest critics cannot accuse him of is that he is corrupt. The man is uncorruptable even US cables in wikileaks said that few years ago. He hardly has few rupees in his bank account which he keeps consistently donating to girl child education from his own salary every month.
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Oct 28, 2014 12:18pm
@Qamar BTW how you know this? Did you get those names from Swiss bank?
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Oct 28, 2014 12:33pm
During pre elections BJP and Narendra Modi promised to bring back black money from foreign accounts, but its now hesitating rather apprehensive, to disclose, as there might be party members too.
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Oct 28, 2014 12:38pm
The government is very carefully planning everything. The names are not revealed before hand , firstly a solid case is prepared against them, a petition is filed in the court and then the name is revealed.
If I had tonnes of money in some foregin state, the first thing that I would do if I was named ,would be - bribe the the investigating agencies, ask them to frame a weak case. This is a possibility.
Once the name goes into the court, the matter is taken up the chief justice, and the SIT below him which is investigating. The SIt is answerable to SC and the Prime minister only. Modi we all know is super honest and non corruptible. He will even drag the BJP leaders to the court, like he had done in Gujrat. (In Gujrat his only major opponents were erstwhile BJP leaders, who left and joined the congress, they could not work accroding to his style - fixed deadline, fixed responsiblity and timely punishment in failure to do work).
We do not have faith in the BJP, we have faith in Narendra Modi. IF anyone would go and properly analyse India's Political scenario, the people have voted for modi, not the BJP
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Oct 28, 2014 12:48pm
@Qamar hahaha u made very quickly ur dreams qamar modi is not a buisnesman and he already declared in pmro sites its all wealth and any one can see with proof ahhh u disharten
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Oct 28, 2014 01:09pm
@Qamar Narendra Modi lives the life of a mendicant-one who has renounced all possessions-he donated his entire salary as Gujarat CM to educating lower ranking government employees........wish Pakistan good luck in finding such a man to run the country?
Abdul Sattar Edhi was robbed? Looks as if it is dangerous to be good in Pakistan? You don't seem to appreciate something positive when you see it?
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Oct 28, 2014 01:20pm
@Qamar sir our PM name is MODI not nawaz sharif
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Oct 28, 2014 01:35pm
good job.great move to take our country ahead.
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Oct 28, 2014 01:41pm
@Qamar and let me tell you, you know nothing about modi and jaitley
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Oct 28, 2014 01:44pm
@Qamar see its not that easy, especially these days, In India, if you have to contest or after assuming office you have to declare your assets and through RTI (right to Information act), any ordinary citizen can probe this further...all the ministers you have listed are free of corruption, things are getting more transparent, better i would say, long way to go though
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Oct 28, 2014 01:57pm
@Qamar If any BJP ministers name would have been on the list,the previous Congress Govt would have been too excited.They would have called a huge press conference to announce the name.
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Oct 28, 2014 01:59pm
While there is no official estimate of the amount of money illegally deposited abroad, Washington-based think-tank Global Financial Integrity has estimate India suffered $344 billion in illicit fund outflows between 2002 and 2011.
While Bloomberg in a recent report said At stake is what's estimated to be as much as $2 trillion! If even a part of this money comes back, India's economy will receive a strong booster.
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Oct 28, 2014 02:14pm
Naming and shaming is one thing, getting the actual cash back is quite another. In Pakistan we have full knowledge of WHO has Swiss accounts, thats not the problem. The problem is that so far not a single penny has been retrieved. The people involved are happy to be named and shamed as long as they can keep hold of the money. And it is partly the Swiss banks fault as well. They are notorious in dragging their feet when it comes to returning cash. So I think if BJP govt manages to get some money back, it will be a great achievement but I am not very hopeful.
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Oct 28, 2014 02:25pm
@Qamar Very unlikely. The names you mentioned, Modi and Jaitley, are not corrupt. Yes, there are other politicians from both BJP and Congress who may, hopefully, be caught.
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Oct 28, 2014 02:37pm
@Qamar Name of Modi???? You dont know about Modi. Even a Congress, or Kejriwal group will not trust if anybody says that Modi has swiss account.
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Oct 28, 2014 02:44pm
@krezy I doubt what will be eventually revealed. My hunch is, most of Congress leaders have swiss accounts, a lot of BJP and leaders of other parties. However you will never hear their names as at the end of the day, they will all protect each other. I'll give an example. In India you need to file an FIR (first information report) to register a crime. Police being hands and legs of political parties, never writes these FIRs. You can try as much, but they will never register an FIR. So! a proposal was that FIR writing should be done outside police station under public eye. This proposal is decades old and NOT EVEN A SINGLE political party wants the bill to be passed in parliament. They protect each other to no end.
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Oct 28, 2014 02:54pm
This is one topic where even the die hard fundamentalists from both sides agree on.- that their leaders have hoarded cash illegaly.
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Oct 28, 2014 03:04pm
It is certainly one more good job done by Mr. Modi. He has factory of ideas and courage to implement in real life without any delay. I am sure this tempo will increase day by day and new feather to be added in Mr. Modi's cap. India will be a changed country within 5 years under his able leadership. He is a man of action, walks like a lion, works as a young person, confidence as a champion, loves as a mother in nutshell wholesome statesman.
We pray for his good health and wish for a long & happy tenure.
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Oct 28, 2014 03:13pm
@siddharth The names are with the Govt. and if anyone is capable to file FIR that is GOVT. If Govt does not want to reveal the name then its OK. But if Govt wants to reveal the name and file a legal suits against them then no body can stop it. Whatever you said is correct for common man not for Govt.
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Oct 28, 2014 04:11pm
India is moving in right direction. With in two decades India will be low corruption nation.
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Oct 28, 2014 04:14pm
Pakistan is not a low population nation BUT it allows dual nationality! You can easily understand why is that ?
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Oct 28, 2014 04:46pm
I am not happy with hiding all other names and disclosing already known names in media - Just to let all my Indian Friends to know these 3 people are already accepted of having overseas bank a\c in 2012!
Modiji I respect your efforts but still some more transperancy needs to be shown in this matter.
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Oct 28, 2014 05:10pm
@sameer I did not say Modi has Swiss account. Swiss accounts have become very common. He may have Dubai account or American account. Ha Ha.
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Oct 28, 2014 05:41pm
Flash news: SC of India directed Indian Govt to disclose all the names tomorrow......
Modi is rocking........
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Oct 28, 2014 06:34pm
thats a good change now pakistani politicians will be suffering anxiety and afraid of same consequences i wish this culture may transfer to here
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Oct 28, 2014 07:37pm
A big pat on the back to the Indians..When will my government in Pakistan follow this example? Let's begin with the Public..
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Oct 28, 2014 10:16pm
Rest of 700 names to be shared in Supreme Court tomorrow ! Things are changing in real world.
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Oct 29, 2014 12:36am
@South Indian there are some technical reasons behind, Govt. bound to not put into public domes. 1st reason is some legal obligations between india and Swiss. india can disclose only those name who illegally open account in swiss banks and Govt. have a strong prosecution evidence against them. If india breach the said treaty than Swiss Govt. will not be cooperate in further proceedings. let's see what happen today.
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Oct 29, 2014 07:02am
Indian Supreme court has ordered to disclose all names by Wednesday. Lets hope that Indian government shows some courage and disclose all names instead of getting around with some legal excuses. Disclosing only three names randomly does not make any sense.
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Oct 29, 2014 09:31am
@Qamar Not a chance !!! ... FYI - Modi's mother still travels by rikshaw, lives in a small house. His brother owns a small clothing shop. Modi himself doesn't have a single piece of real estate under his name. And this is after being a CM of a prosperous state 3 times and then PM of the world's top 10 economy... He had 21 lakh indian rupees in savings during his tenure as a CM (CM gets a good salary). But before moving to Delhi as a PM he donated 21 lakhs to girl child education...
There is a reason we have faith in our PM. His legacy won't be big estates and rich children. But he will leave a prosperous country and a proud civilization behind when he'll die. I am confident about it.
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Oct 29, 2014 09:33am
In contradiction to popular belief There wont be huge money (and that too black money ) in foreign banks. one main reason is that there are some channels which brings back black money as white. So there will be hardly 5-25B$ (that too is huge amount but wont impact economy by huge) at most. Also I think that There will be hardly 5-10 politicians in that list. Not because they have approach but due to fact that politicians dont make much money in corruption, while mediators and real businessman makes real money in big corruption. Politicians who themselves or who's relatives run business they can make huge money (for ex mr Zardari and sharifs as in Pakistan).
Again I say, politicians are corrupt, yet they cant make billions of $ that too to store in 0% interest rates in Swiss banks.
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Oct 29, 2014 11:16am
@UJ And also, still his in-laws sells onions in road
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Oct 29, 2014 12:09pm
@mirza you should not be hopeful you should vote for a politian who only thinks about country
thanq you
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Oct 29, 2014 12:15pm
@UJ ryt bro
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