NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — The Indian government has announced that multi-agency sleuths will study the authenticity of revelations made in the Paradise Papers leak and pursue action if it is proven that the 714 Indians mentioned in the papers are indeed guilty of tax evasion and financial irregularities. This has left the rich and the powerful rattled.
"The revelations are very scratchy…Will have to wait until all the names come out in public. All directors general have been told to take cognizance of all the revelations in the Paradise paper leak. All the names that have been listed in the papers will be scrutinized and the amount of transactions they have done offshore will be matched with the income tax returns they have filed. If the return does not match the balance sheet, then the department will take swift action. We have a tax treaty with Bermuda and will ask for information if we need to," a top official at India's Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) who did not wish to be named told Sputnik.
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It is expected that this huge leak of financial documents will expose a lot of secret wealth for hundreds of powerful Indians including high ranking politicians. The name of a union minister is already out. Paradise Papers — as they have been called are a bundle of 13.4 million records of financial matters brought to light by a collective of international journalists on Sunday night.
The paper contains interoffice communications of two financial management companies Bermuda's Appleby and Singapore's Asiaciti. The Indian Express English daily have published the details of the leak on behalf of the journalists' collective in India. Appleby and Asiaciti call themselves corporate entities that help companies and individuals set up businesses, make investments and carry out financial operations and both the firms are comprised of legal experts, chartered accountancy and banking.
Meanwhile, the Indian government has announced that a multi-agency group comprising taxmen and officers of the central investigation bureau CBI, the Enforcement Directorate and Financial Intelligence Unit will investigate the matter.
"The Investigation units of the Income Tax Department (ITD) have been alerted to take note of revelations for immediate appropriate action. It has been reported that many cases of offshore entities are already under investigation on the fast track. As soon as further information surfaces, swift action as per law will follow," the Finance Ministry said in a press release.
India's junior Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha, another member of the Parliament of the ruling party R K Sinha and Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan's name figure in the papers. Minister Sinha today issued a clarification saying "All these transactions have been fully disclosed to the relevant authorities through all necessary filings as required," he said. India, which is struggling to root out black money from its economy, already has a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe related cases and it reports directly to the apex court.
