By TCN Staff Writer,
New Delhi: Though very small, this is the first list of those have stashed their ill-gotten wealth in foreign banks. The Congress-led UPA Government has possessed this list for over two years now but shying from making it public. Tehelka weekly has done it. Salute to investigative journalism for the greater cause of the society.
The periodical this evening published a list of 15 individuals /trusts who have stashed huge sum in a German bank. In fact the actual number of such gentlemen could be in hundreds or even thousands seeing the growing numbers of millionaires in a poor country like India.The German Government had passed on the names and bank account details of 18 Indians who had stashed their alleged ill-gotten wealth in the LGT bank of Liechtenstein, a well-known tax haven nation, 190 km from Munich, Germany. Germany had officially handed over the list to the UPA Government on 18th March 2009. The government has since been sitting on the list or if one believes it it has been investigating about these swindlers.
Here is the list of 15
1. Manoj Dhupelia
2. Rupal Dhupelia
3. Mohan Dhupelia
4. Hasmukh Gandhi
5. Chintan Gandhi
6. Dilip Mehta
7. Arun Mehta
8. Arun Kochar
9. Gunwanti Mehta
10. Rajnikant Mehta
11. Prabodh Mehta
12. Ashok Jaipuria
13. Raj Foundation
14. Urvashi Foundation
15. Ambrunova Trust
The three trusts in this list are registered outside India.
Some of these 15 may be just fronts for some high-profile individuals (politicians/bureaucrats/businessmen). According to Tehelka, out of 18, the government has completed probe about 16, and is about to take action. The magazine has withheld one name saying it is awaiting his/her version. The weekly has also not disclosed the account details, amount, and addresses of these account holders. It said it has approached each of these individuals involved and is awaiting
their response.
The government sources told the weekly that the two main charges proved against these individuals are of tax evasion and concealment of income.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee have since said more than once that this list cannot be disclosed to the Indian people. Opposition parties including BJP and the Left Front have repeatedly the disclosure of the list. This list is from a bank in Germany. It is known to all that Switzerland is the most favorite of the Indian swindlers. So the actual number of such people could be much much higher.
These 18 names are part of the list of 1,400 clients, which was stolen from the databank of LGT Group, and passed on to German tax authorities in 2008. After this, Germany and England launched massive investigations into the suspected tax evasions and have since prosecuted many of them on charges of tax evasion and concealment of income. The German Government alone initiated action against over 600.
How much time will our country take to initiate action against the Indian culprits? Or will it ever?