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New Delhi, Industrialist Yash Birla and son-in-law of late realty and liquor baron Ponty Chadha are among seven Indians with Swiss bank accounts whose names have been made public in Switzerland’s official gazette with regard to ongoing tax probes against them in India.
Two Mumbai-based individuals named in the famous City Limousines scam, a Delhi-based businesswoman Ritika Sharma and two others — Sneh Lata Sawhney and Sangita Sawhney– are the other Indians whose names have been made public.
The names of these seven “Indian nationals” have been published in Switzerland’s Federal Gazette with regard to details sought about them by the Indian authorities.
Among these, some details have already been shared by the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA) with India, including about Birla and Sharma of Blessings Apparel, as per the gazette notifications.
In case of Sayed Mohamed Masood, being probed for a major ponzi scheme run from Mumbai through City Limousines, some details were shared by Swiss authorities in the past. His accounts were also frozen a few years ago following a request from the Enforcement Directorate.
Fresh details about him and about Chaud Kauser Mohamed Masood have been sought by the Indian authorities, as per the notifications published in Switzerland’s official gazette.
While asking the named persons to appeal within 30 days, the notifications mention the names and date of birth of all the seven, including Gurjit Singh Kochar, who is married into the Chadha family and is said to be outside India now.
The notifications for Birla and Sharma also mention their Mumbai and Delhi addresses, respectively.
Welcoming the Swiss government’s move, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said this should serve as a “sufficient indicator” to those with unaccounted wealth abroad about the action to follow.
The Yash Birla group later said in an emailed statement that he had “no individual bank account in his name or under his control” and this position has already been communicated to the Indian tax authorities.
In case of Birla and Ritika Sharma, whose details have been already shared by the Swiss authorities, the notifications also mention their addresses in India, but the information given to India has been withheld from the gazette.
No further details — other than their names and date of birth — were made public for other “Indian nationals”. Similar is the case for other foreign nationals including the British, Spanish and Russians.
In case of American and Israeli citizens, their full names have been withheld and they have been identified by their initials and dates of birth.
At least 40 such ‘final notices’ have been published in the Swiss Federal Gazette so far this month, while more such names are expected to be published going forward.
The alleged stashing of wealth by Indians in Swiss banks has been a matter of great debate in India.
The Indian government has been pushing the Swiss authorities for a long time to share information on the suspected tax evaders, while Switzerland has shared some details in cases where India has been able to provide some independent evidence of suspected tax evasion by Indian clients of Swiss banks.
