NEW DELHI: Indians are the largest depositors in banks abroad with an estimated 500 billion US dollars (nearly Rs 24.5 lakh crore) of illegal money stashed by them in tax havens, the CBI director said on Monday.
India, in particular, has suffered from the flow of illegal funds to tax havens such as Mauritius, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, British Virgin islands etc.
“It is estimated that around 500 billion dollars of illegal money belonging to Indians is deposited in tax havens abroad. Largest depositors in Swiss Banks are also reported to be Indians,” CBI director A P Singh said speaking at the inauguration of first interpol global programme on anti-corruption and asset recovery.
He said getting information about such illegal transactions is a time taking process as investigators have to peel each layer by sending judicial requests to the country where such deposits have been made.
“53 per cent of the countries said to be least corrupt by the Transparency International Index are offshore tax havens, where most of the corrupt money goes. The tax havens include New Zealand which is ranked as the least corrupt country, Singapore ranked number five and Switzerland number seven,” Singh said.
He said there is a lack of political will in the leading tax haven states to part with the information because they are aware of the extent to which their economies have become “geared to this flow of illegal capitals from the poorer countries.” – Times of India, Mumbai, Feb. 13, 2012
Filed under: banks, corruption, economics, india, nehru-gandhi family, swiss banks Tagged: | black money, british virgin islands, cbi, corrupt country, corruption, lichtenstein, mauritius, new zealand, pictet & cie bank, singapore, swiss banks, switzerland, tax havens
The amount could be as high as 1.5 trillion Dollars with everyone cutting across party lines involved who is going to get it back; desperate situation.
CBI chief stresses on global help to recover black money stashed abroad – TOI, Mumbai, Feb. 18, 2012
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday stressed the need for cooperation with international law enforcement agencies to trace and recover illegal wealth stashed abroad. “In today’s globalised context, effective international cooperation in essential for fighting corruption that transcends international boundaries. We need to engage with each other at all levels to effectively deal with those criminals indulging in corrupt practices at a multi-national level. This requires more effective cooperation among all the law enforcement agencies,” CBI director A P Singh said.
Singh said global cooperation will provide speed and efficiency in confiscation of black money and prosecution of criminals. “Multi jurisdiction cross-border aspects of an investigation into corruption and international asset recovery involve numerous processes like tracing, freezing, confiscation and repatriation of proceeds stored in foreign jurisdiction. We must realixe that international cooperation is a two- way street, and is given on a reciprocal basis,” he said while concluding the first Interpol global programme on anti-corruption and asset recovery.
The first-of-its-kind conference was attended by about 38 delegates of 14 nations, including China, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
Though Singh had estimated that black money to the tune of Rs 24.5 lakh crore (around $500 billion) stashed abroad last Monday, he did not make a mention about the figure on Friday. The disclosure of estimates has evoked reactions from all quarters. On Friday, he also avoided media and quietly left the venue without taking any questions from the waiting reporters.
“The programme has further strengthened the perception that law enforcement officers in different parts of the world may don different uniforms, but their aim and objectives remain the same – to curb corruption, and equally important, to punish the offenders and recover the property earned through corrupt means,” Singh said in his valedictory address to the participants.
He hoped that participating officers will carry with themselves a “resolve to further the efforts in tackling corruption and tracing illegal assets”.
Secretary in the department of personnel and training P K Misra also stressed for seizing black money and properties made through corrupt means. “Fight against corruption is incomplete unless we recover the illegal assets and wealth amassed by corrupt persons. The corrupt should be not only brought to book but their illegally amassed wealth should also be recovered and attached,” Misra said. He said that property and wealth which is created through corrupt and illegal means is basically a fruit of crime and the guilty should not be allowed to enjoy these fruits.
“In my view, no fight against corruption is complete unless we recover and attach these illegal assets,” Misra added asking the officers to fight corruption with all might.
I am not sure, if that Museum still exists in one of the British Isles in English Channel called Smuglers’ Museum. It stated, and rightly so, “One nation’s smuggling is a business for the other”. I repeat here also, Indians are slave and buffoon both in theory and practice. In today’s materialistic society with a long standing colonialism, it may not be easy to get rid of this mindset.
The biggest depositor in this list is the biggest powerful person. Who will bell the cat. There is a total political lack of will and willingness. Quite rightly so. Was Quatrocchi dispensed with for nothing? Did it need anything else than a political will? Why the CBI was restricted to present the document in the overseas court in time and allow the case to lapse in absence of timely action on the part of GOI?
These are the same people who have tired out the Anna movement on Lokpal. They will again sit on it and it will end up being a seasonal tool for vote bank attraction. I liked the children of Ms Priyanka aka Biyanka Vadra Gandhi in the election campings and campaigns. It will certainly gain a few sympathy votes. Today they crying hoarse of development, corruption and governance but how many people understand their gimmicks? They know it very well and they encash their (people’s) naivety. It is a shame but for a shameless, there is nothing shameful either.
With a village population of 700,000 rural setting and >50% illiteracy; even those who are literate are uneducated of the ground realities and sentimentally charged by castes, ignorance, language, greed, muscle power, corruption, and etc, media dominated by foreign institutions, pseudo secularists constantly brain washing; there is hardly a scope for a change in the ground realities.
I agree with the ?agent N Swamy that it is difficult to get the black money back. He is a Voice of His/her master. No chance.