498 Indians named in tax haven scoop
Published on June 16, 2013
Nearly 500 Indians and Indian companies have bank accounts in tax havens like British Virgin, Cayman and Cook Islands and Singapore. They are among the 10,000 account holders worldwide whose comprehensive list was released by the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on Saturday. Interestingly, the official residential addresses of two senior Government officers also figure in the list.
In the massive worldwide exposé, titled ‘Secrecy for Sale’, the ICIJ released the names of 498 Indians and several Indian companies having bank accounts in the tax havens. As per the list, one Ritu Verma’s bank account carries the address of the official residence of a senior IAS officer Rajani Kant Verma of the UT cadre in Delhi. The address is: D-II-225 Vinay Marg, Chanakyapuri in New Delhi.
Inquiries by The Pioneer have revealed that the UT cadre IAS officer held important posts in the Delhi Government. He was transferred to Goa sometime ago, but now he is back in Delhi and resides at the same address. According to ICIJ, Ritu Verma is a Director of Windsor Incorporation Inc since August 13, 2007. The company’s address is shown as: Portcullis Trust Net Chambers, PO Box 3444, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
The other Government accommodation figuring in the list is: 15 E, CPWD Quarters, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi. This address is shown as that of one Sanjay Wali. The CPWD quarters in Vasant Vihar are allotted to senior Government officials. According to ICIJ’s exposé, Sanjay Wali is a Director of Crest Strategies limited since September 6, 2006. This company is registered in Dubai and has accounts in tax havens.
A majority of the 498 Indian addresses are from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Baroda, Ahmedabad and Bangalore. All the posh colonies in these metros figure in the list. Addresses from Delhi’s posh areas include Greater Kailash, Defence Colony and Golf links Road. Besides, Chennai’s Pycrofts Garden Road and Race Course Road also figure in the list of bank account holders in tax havens.
Several Indian businessmen and their family members’ names and their associations with trusts and companies are mentioned in the lengthy list produced by ICIJ on their website. People from areas like Raipur, Bellary, Kurukshetra, Khammam, ludhiana, Ajmer, Bhopal, Muzaffarpur, Baripada (Odisha), Kochi and Pondicherry also figure in the list.
“The ICIJ publishes today a database that, for the first time in history, will help begin to strip away this secrecy across 10 offshore jurisdictions. The Offshore leaks Database allows users to search through more than 1,00,000 secret companies, trusts and funds created in offshore locales such as the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands and Singapore. The Offshore leaks web app, developed by la Nación newspaper in Costa Rica for ICIJ, displays graphic visualisations of offshore entities and the networks around them, including, when possible, the company’s true owners,” ICIJ, in the introduction of their exposé, said.
“When Bernard Madoff built his $65 billion house of cards; when food distributors passed off horsemeat as beef lasagna in Europe; and when Apple, Google and other American companies set up structures to channel their profits through Ireland – they all used tax havens.
“They bought secrecy, minimal or zero taxes and legal insulation, the distinctive products that tax havens market and that allow companies to operate in a fiscal and regulatory vacuum. Using the offshore economy is akin to acquiring your own island where the rules that most citizens follow don’t apply,” said ICIJ in the forward note to their biggest exposé, justifying the publication of bank accounts in tax havens across the world. The Journalists’ organisation promises more release of bank accounts in the coming days.
