‘Paradise Papers’ to be monitored by reconstituted Multi Agency Group: Govt
New Delhi, November 6: The Government has directed that investigations in cases of Paradise Papers will be monitored through a reconstituted Multi Agency Group, headed by the Chairman, CBDT, having representatives from CBDT, ED, RBI and FIU.
“The Paradise Papers include nearly 7 million loan agreements, financial statements, emails, trust deeds and other paperwork over nearly 50 years from inside Appleby, a prestigious offshore law firm with offices in Bermuda and beyond,” statement said.
The leaked documents include files from the smaller, family-owned trust company, Asiaciti (Singapore), and from company registries in 19 secrecy jurisdictions. Names of only a few Indians have appeared so far in the media. Even the ICIJ website (www.icij.org) has not yet released the names and other particulars of all the entities.
The website of ICIJ suggests that information will be released in phases and structured data connected to the Paradise Papers investigation will be released only in the coming weeks on its Offshore Leaks Database.
Ministry further said that 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 fast track. As soon as further information surfaces, swift action as per law will follow.
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) last night released 'The Paradise Papers', a global investigation that reveals the offshore activities of some of the world’s most powerful people and companies. The ICIJ and 95 media partners explored 13.4 million leaked files of offshore law firms and the company registries in some of the world’s most secretive countries. The files were obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, and shared with the ICIJ.
Among 180 countries represented in the data, India ranks 19th in terms of number of names. A total of 714 Indian names figure in the leaked data. These include companies involved in the Sun-TV-Aircel-Maxis case, Essar-Loop 2G case and SNC-Lavalin case in which Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was named. Firms involved in Rajasthan ambulance scam such as Ziquista Healthcare also finds place in the list. Congress leader Sachin Pilot and Karti Chidambaram, son of P Chidambaram, were early Honorary or Independent Directors of the firm. YSR Congress Chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, fugitive industrialist Vijay Mallya, lobbyist Niira Radia, film actor Sanjay Dutt's wife who figures under her former name Dilnashin and Nand Lal Khemka of Sun Group also find place in the list.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha’s name figures in the records because of his past association with the Omidyar Network. Other prominent Indian corporates which figure in the Appleby database include Jindal Steel, Apollo Tyres, Havells, Videocon and GMR group among others.
The Paradise Papers revealed offshore interests and activities of more than 120 politicians and world leaders, including Queen Elizabeth II. At least 13 allies, major donors and Cabinet members of US President Donald J. Trump appear, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s also figure in the list.