A day after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) revealed names of about one lakh account holders from various countries in Swiss branch of HSBC Bank, the Swiss Government claimed that the list was part of stolen data of 2007 and previous years. This means it might be difficult for countries like India which are probing black money stashed in foreign account to get details on these accounts without any additional evidence. At the same time, the Government has said the list is not backed by evidence and all accounts may not be illegal.
However, Switzerland has agreed to help if India is able to provide some additional evidence even in cases of names collected through “stolen data” while saying the country is “strongly committed” to fight against the black money menace following change in its policy a few years ago.
The latest list has 2,699 accounts linked to 1,688 Indians. Out of these, 1,403 accounts were opened between 1969 and 2006, while the maximum amount of money associated with a client connected to India was $876.3 million. Among Indian names, 51 per cent account holders have Indian passport or nationality, while the remaining accounts were either linked to offshore companies, or were “numbered” accounts. The number of actionable cases against Indians stands at 1,195 after taking into account duplication and some other factors. Collectively, these 1,195 accounts had a balance of $4.1 billion (Rs25,420 crore) till 2007.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that names are immaterial if they are not backed by evidence. He added all accounts holders may not be illegal as some had disclosed their overseas business dealings to tax authorities while some others on the list are NRIs.
“Evidence is needed in addition to stolen data so that a watertight case can be framed. Just names do not ensure proper proceedings in the court. It should be rather backed by solid evidence. If evidence is authentic, then only it stands in the court,” Jaitely said. The Finance Minister added that he had met top Swiss authorities, including Switzerland’s Finance Minister, in Davos last month and it was agreed there that admission by assesses would be considered additional evidence to seek details.
The Finance Ministry said that some of the names that were published on Monday already figure in the earlier list available with the Government and necessary investigation will be taken up in all the new cases expeditiously.
India had earlier received from France a list of over 628 Indians with account in HSBC’s Geneva branch. That list was also part of the larger HSBC list, which a former bank employee had “secreted away” to the French Government. The Finance Ministry has said that out of these, 200 were either non-residents or non-traceable, while only 428 cases were found actionable. For these 428 actionable cases the net amount of peak balance was about Rs 4,500 crore. Up to December 31, 2014, assessments were completed in 128 cases, involving more than 350 assessments. In the remaining cases, assessment proceedings are at advance stage. Undisclosed income of about Rs 3,150 crore was brought to tax on account of deposits made in unreported foreign bank accounts.
Out of the 128 cases in which assessments were completed, concealment penalty proceedings under Income Tax laws have been initiated in almost all the cases. About 60 prosecutions have so far been launched for attempt to evade taxes and failure to furnish accounts and documents.
The Indian Government has also during the last six months made contacts with foreign Governments who might have some further information in this regard and the Income Tax Department is in touch with the whistle blower requesting to share information available with him about undisclosed bank accounts of Indians in HSBC, Switzerland and other destinations.