In a new twist to the black money issue, Tehelka on Friday released the names of 15 Indians, including three trusts, who it claimed had stashed their wealth in the LGT bank in Liechtenstein, a well-known tax haven. Revealing only the names but not their addresses, the weekly magazine said two years ago Germany had passed on the names and bank account details of these account holders. The magazine claims to have possession of 16 of the 18 names on the list, which the UPA government refused to make public.
The list released by the magazine includes the names of
1. Manoj Dhupelia
2. Rupal Dhupelia
3. Mohan Dhupelia
4. Hasmukh Gandhi
5. Chintan Gandhi
6. Dilip Mehta
7. Arun Mehta
8. Arun Kochar
9. Gunwanti Mehta
10. Rajnikant Mehta
11. Prabodh Mehta
12. Ashok Jaipuria
13. Raj Foundation
14. Urvashi Foundation
15. Ambrunova Trust
The three trusts in this list are registered outside India.
The Tehelka report claims Germany had officially handed over the list to the Indian Government on 18 March 2009.
Which means it is almost two years since the Indian Government had information about the names and bank account details of these eighteen Indians.
The revelations may mean fresh trouble for an already embattled UPA government which has been refusing to make public the names saying it was bound by secrecy clauses in agreements with a host of countries.
The government has given some names in a sealed envelope to the Supreme Court which is hearing a case.
“At this point, we are putting out 15 names without disclosing details like their addresses, the businesses they are involved in and the total money they have stored away in Liechtenstein,” the weekly said.
It said the 18 names are part of the list of 1,400 clients, which were stolen from the databank of LGT Group, the Liechtenstein bank owned by the principality’s ruling family, and passed on to German tax authorities in 2008. The German government had paid as much as €5 million, or $7.4 million, for information on German account holders in Liechtenstein…After this, Germany and England had launched massive investigations resulting in prosecution of dozens of their citizens.
Germany alone had initiated action against over 600 of its tax payers. Besides taking action against its own citizens, Germany had also shared this information with other countries including India.
Who are the Mehtas?
Dilip Mehta and Arun Mehta are owners of Mumbai-based Rosy Blue Diamonds having offices across the globe including Antwerp, informed sources. They also own Film Waves which has an equity in Kochi IPL team. Arun is CEO of the group. Prabodh Mehta is also a Mumbai-based Gujarati businessman and owns a prominent Hospital in Mumbai. The three trusts have their registered offices outside India.
