Black money: Swiss government to share details of 2 Indian firms

As Switzerland continues to shed its image as a safe haven for alleged black money, the Alpine nation has agreed to share with Indian authorities the details about two companies and three individuals who are facing multiple probes back in India.

One of the two Indian companies used to be a publicly-listed entity and has already faced the wrath of capital markets regulator Sebi for multiple violations, while the other firm is said to have political links in Tamil Nadu.

As per separate gazette notifications of the Swiss government, the country’s federal tax department has agreed to provide ‘administrative assistance’ to India on requests made about Geodesic Ltd and Aadhi Enterprises Private Ltd.

Similar requests have also been accepted for three individuals associated with Geodesic Ltd -- Pankajkumar Onkar Srivastava, Prashant Sharad Mulekar and Kiran Kulkarni.

While the Swiss government did not disclose specific details related to the information and assistance sought by the Indian authorities regarding the two companies and the three individuals, such an ‘administrative assistance’ follows submission of proof about financial and tax-related wrongdoings and typically involves sharing of information relating to bank account details and other financial data.

The concerned companies and the individuals can file an appeal against the decision of Switzerland’s Federal Tax Administration (FTA) to provide administrative assistance to India.

Repeated attempts to contact the two companies and the three individuals for their comments failed to yield any result. In the past, they have denied any wrongdoing. While Switzerland has always denied being a safe haven for black money, it has traditionally been known for its strong banking secrecy laws that had to be eased following a strong global crackdown on illicit funds being stashed in such jurisdictions.