New Delhi: The Union Government today directed a multi agency group headed by the Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to monitor investigations in cases of Pandora Papers leaks appearing in the media under the name ‘Pandora Papers’. The multi agency group will have representatives from CBDT, Enforcement Directorate (ED), Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
On October 3, 2021, the International Consortium of International Journalists (ICIJ) came out with what is claimed to be a 2.94 terabyte data trove that exposes the offshore secrets of wealthy elites from more than 200 countries and territories.
The investigation was based on a leak of confidential records of 14 offshore service providers that give professional services to wealthy individuals and corporations seeking to incorporate shell companies, trusts, foundations and other entities in low or no-tax jurisdictions. The 150 news outlets that joined the investigative partnership include The Washington Post, the BBC, The Guardian, Radio France, Oštro Croatia, the Indian Express, Zimbabwe’s The Standard, Morocco’s Le Desk and Ecuador’s Diario El Universo.
People linked by the secret documents to offshore assets include India’s cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar, pop music diva Shakira, supermodel Claudia Schiffer and an Italian mobster known as “Lell the Fat One.” The ICIJ though quoted Tendulkar’s attorney saying that the cricket player’s investment is legitimate and has been declared to tax authorities. Shakira’s attorney said the singer declared her companies, which the attorney said do not provide tax advantages. Schiffer’s representatives said the supermodel correctly pays her taxes in t he U.K., where she lives.
ICIJ’s latest investigation, the Pandora Papers, also exposes the offshore holdings of people close to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, including his finance minister and a top financial backer.
According the the ICIJ, the Pandora Papers investigation is larger and more global than even ICIJ’s landmark Panama Papers investigation, which rocked the world in 2016, spawning police raids and new laws in dozens of countries and the fall of prime ministers in Iceland and Pakistan.
“The Government has taken note of these developments,” a Finance Ministry release stated today, adding that the relevant investigative agencies would undertake investigation in these cases and appropriate action would be taken in such cases as per law.
Names of only a few Indians (legal entities as well as individuals) have appeared so far in the media, the Finance Ministry said. Even the ICIJ website has not yet released the names and other particulars of all the entities, it added. “The website of ICIJ suggests that information will be released in phases and structured data connected to the Pandora Papers investigation will be released only in the days to come on its Offshore Leaks Database,” the Ministry stated.
With a view to ensure effective investigation in these cases, the Government will also proactively engage with foreign jurisdictions for obtaining information in respect of relevant taxpayers/entities. The Government of India is also part of an Inter-Governmental Group that ensures collaboration and experience sharing to effectively address tax risks associated with such leaks, the Finance Ministry release pointed out.
It may be noted that following earlier similar such leaks in the form of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), HSBC, Panama Papers and Paradise Papers, the Government has already enacted the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 with an aim to curb black money, or undisclosed foreign assets and income by imposing suitable tax and penalty on such income. Undisclosed credits of Rs. 20,352 crore approximately (status as on 15.09.2021) have been detected in the investigations carried out in the Panama and Paradise Papers, the Finance Ministry disclosed.
– global bihari bureau
