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election 2018
black money

inally, India has received for the first time
the first tranche of Swiss bank account
details and it’s touted as major success
of the Modi Government’s fight against
black money. However, with the data
still remaining shrouded by the con -
F fidentiality clause, is the information
worth the effort?
The information from Swiss authorities has under
the AEOI framework, which provides for exchange
of information on financial accounts, currently
active as well as those accounts that have been closed
since 2018, the year in which the framework agree-
ment became effective. So far so good, but the
information the exchange was governed by strict
confidentiality clauses.
Taking recourse to the confidentiality clause, the
FTA officials refused to part with specific details on
the number of accounts or about the quantum of
financial transactions belonging to Indians with the
Swiss banks. Little doubt the effort was not worth
waiting for!
The full names that figure prominently in the Swiss
government federal gazette include Krishna Bhagwan
Ramchand, Potluri Rajamohan Rao, Kalpesh Harshad
Kinariwala, Kuldip Singh Dhingra, Bhaskaran Nalini,
Lalitaben Chimanbhai Patel, Sanjay Dalmia, Pankaj
Kumar Saraogi, Anil Bhardwaj, Tharani Renu Tikam-
das, Mahesh Tikamdas Tharani, Savani Vijay Kanai-
yalal, Bhaskaran Tharur, KalpeshbhaiPatel Mahen-
drabhai, Ajoy Kumar and Dinesh Kumar Himatsingka,
Ratan Singh Chowdhury and Kathotia Rakesh Kumar.
Of course, there are some names mentioned in the
Swiss Government federal gazette, but still, there are
many more cases where only initials have been dis-
closed for Indian nationals and these include only
abbreviations or initials such as NMA, MMA, PAS, RAS,
ABKI, APS, ASBK, MLA, ADS, RPN, MCS, JNV, JD, AD, UG,
YA, DM,SLS, UL, SS, RN, VL, UL, OPL, PM, PKK, BLS, SKN
and JKJ. Interestingly, several of these persons and
their companies are said to be based in Kolkata, Guja-
rat, Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai.
Large numbers of Indians who have been
issued notices recently include people whose names
figured in the HSBC and Panama lists, as also those
being probed by the Income Tax Department and the
Enforcement Directorate among other agencies.
Ironically, the money parked by Indians in Swiss
banks has been rising and it rose by over50% in 2017.
Interestingly, while the money stashed by Indians in
Swiss banks rose manifold, neighbouring Pakistan’s
funds held by its people were down by over 21 per
cent during this period. The data shows that funds
held directly by Indians in 2017 rose to 6,891 crore.
This included 3200 crore was in the form of cus-

Tehelka / 15 november 2019 17 www.Tehelka.com