[ICIJ releases The Paradise Papers, a global investigation that reveals the offshore activities of some of the world’s most powerful people and companies. (ICIJ Image)]
Mumbai: Names of few ministers in Modi's cabinet, business and film personalities are among 714 Indians linked to tax havens as revealed in a largest ever leak of black money disclosed by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and investigated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
According to the news published by ICIJ's Indian associate Media Institute, Indian Express, this list contains the names of 714 Indians totaling. In the world, there are 180 countries in this list.
India is at number 19 in this list. The documents that have been scrutinized are mostly from Bermuda's law firm, Appleby.
The 119-year-old company is a member of the network of lawyers, accountants, bankers, and others.
This network also includes those who set up companies overseas for their clients and manage their bank accounts.
The special thing is that Appleby's second largest client is an Indian company, which has 118 subsidiaries around the world.
There are some big corporates and companies in Indian Clients of Appleby, who have often been under the scanner of CBI and ED.
In the Central Government, the name of Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha and Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan came out.
In this list, Union minister Jayant Sinha, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia are among Indians named in a fresh set of data leaks showing alleged offshore dealings of the world’s rich and famous.
Before he was elected Lok Sabha MP from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand in 2014 and became a Minister of State at the Centre, Jayant Sinha worked with Omidyar Network as its Managing Director in India. Omidyar Network invested in a US company D.Light Design which has a subsidiary in Cayman Islands in the Caribbean Sea.
Records of offshore legal firm Appleby show Sinha served as Director of D.Light Design — he did not mention this in his declaration to the Election Commission when he contested the Lok Sabha polls in 2014, nor to the Lok Sabha Secretariat or the Prime Minister’s Office as a Minister of State in 2016.
Apart from this, the names of BJP's Rajya Sabha MP and businessman RK Sinha's company SIS Securities have also emerged.
Elected to Rajya Sabha from Bihar in 2014 as a BJP member and considered one of the richest in the House, Ravindra Kishore Sinha, a former journalist who founded the private security service firm SIS or Security and Intelligence Services, heads a group which has two offshore entities.
According to records of the Malta registry, SIS Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd (SAPHL), registered in Malta in 2008, is a subsidiary of SIS. Sinha is listed as a minority shareholder while wife Rita Kishore Sinha is a director of SAPHL. Records show that SIS International Holdings Limited (SIHL), a company incorporated in British Virgin Islands, holds 3,999,999 shares in SAPHL while 1 share is with Ravindra Kishore Sinha.
In Paradise Papers Leak, there is also the mention of Sanjay Dutt's wife, Vrishan Dutt's old name Namdhanshin.
In the report of ICIJ, it includes ministers, business and film personalities, Sun TV Airset Maxis Case, Essar Loop 2G Case, SNC Lavalin, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarai Vijayan, Gyquista Healthcare (formerly owned by Sachin Pilot and Karti Chidambaram) and YSR Congress Chief Jagan Mohan Reddy's names are also included.
The name of Vijay Mallya, a liquor trader from India, is also included in this list.
Apart from this, the disclosures of Paradise Papers include Jindal Steel, Apollo Tires, Havells, Hinduja, EMR MGF, Videocon, Hiranandani Group and DS Construction.
ICIJ releases The Paradise Papers, a global investigation that reveals the offshore activities of some of the world’s most powerful people and companies.
ICIJ and 95 media partners explored 13.4 million leaked files from a combination of leaked files of offshore law firms and the company registries in some of the world’s most secretive countries.
Post Comments
| Quick links