The Indian government has ordered a multi-agency investigation into the leaked Pandora Papers. The names of more than 300 Indians are included in the Pandora Papers, including industrialist Anil Ambani and former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman JB Mohapatra will lead the investigation team. Apart from CBDT, the Enforcement Directorate, Reserve Bank of India and Financial Intelligence Unit will also investigate.
Leaked records show that Reliance ADA Group Chairman Anil Ambani and his representatives owned at least 18 offshore companies.
Seven of these companies established between 2007 and 2010 have borrowed and invested at least $1.3 billion.
There was no immediate response from Anil Ambani, but an unnamed lawyer on his behalf told the Indian Express, "Our clients are tax-paying citizens of India and have told the Indian authorities everything that is required by law." as necessary."
The lawyer said, "All the important things were taken care of while speaking in the London Court. Reliance Group does business all over the world. For legitimate business and regulatory requirements, companies have to be kept in different jurisdictions."
The name of former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and his family members, who had a clean image in India, has also appeared in the Pandora Papers. He has been described as the beneficiary owner of an institution in the British Virgin Islands that came into existence in 2016. Sachin Tendulkar, his wife Anjali Tendulkar, and her father-in-law Anand Mehta are said to be the beneficial owners and directors of this company.
The CIO of the Sachin Tendulkar Foundation has stated in the media that all these investments are valid and legally correct.
pandora papers
These documents have been verified by 600 investigative journalists from 117 countries. These documents, found from 14 sources, were scrutinized for several months. Reports were then prepared based on these documents and they are being published this week.
The data was acquired by the Washington DC-based International Consortium Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and 140 media organizations from around the world participated in the largest global investigation ever.
BBC Panorama and the Guardian have jointly led the investigation in the UK.
Leaked files show how some of the world's most powerful people, including more than 330 politicians from 90 countries, use secret offshore companies to hide their wealth.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has said that appropriate action will be taken against those found guilty.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, "The government will also work closely with foreign jurisdictions to obtain information regarding these taxpayers/entities to ensure effective investigation of these cases."
Two former Supreme Court judges, who headed the government's special investigation team on black money, have said that action will be taken after this information comes to light.
The SIT was formed by the Modi government in the year 2014 to investigate black money and so far seven reports have been submitted to the Supreme Court.
The names of many other prominent Indians have also appeared in the Pandora Papers, including some high-profile businessmen and entrepreneurs.
Apart from this, the names of many prominent overseas Indians are also included in this who took large loans from Indian banks and opened offshore companies despite attachment action and did not give correct details of their existing assets.
The use of offshore companies is not illegal, but the possibility cannot be denied that sometimes offshore companies are used to hide assets.
What Is Offshore Investment?
The Pandora Papers tells of a complex network of companies that run outside the country's borders. Most companies are anonymous. Who owns them, whose money is spent, all these things are kept secret.
As someone has property in India but the owner of this property is taken through companies of another country, these are called 'offshore'.
Where are these offshore countries, territories?
Where it is easy to form companies.
Where there are laws, which make it difficult to trace the identity of the owner of the company.
Where corporation tax is either very little or no at all.
Such places are called 'tax havens'. Although there is no fixed list of how many taxes havens there are, but some places are quite popular among tax evaders and black money stashes. Such as the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands as well as countries like Switzerland and Singapore.
Is Using Tax Haven Illegal?
In tax havens, companies easily avoid paying taxes in many countries due to loopholes in the law, but this is considered unethical.
There are also many legitimate reasons for this type of property due to which people want to have money and property in different countries. For example, protection from criminal attacks or protection from unstable governments can be the main and valid reason behind this.
It is not illegal to form secret offshore companies in the UK. One of the most popular ways to hide black money is to use a complex network of secret companies to move money and assets.
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