5 Indians on Global Stash List Put Out by Swiss Government

NEW DELHI: On a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out, albeit indirectly, at the Congress for looting the country for 60 years, Swiss authorities named five Indians among several foreign nationals with Swiss bank accounts. Their names have been made public by Switzerland in its federal gazette.

The Swiss federal gazette’s April-May 2015 editions contain several dozen decrees, naming citizens of Spain, India, the Netherlands, Germany, Britain, US and South Korea and companies registered in Panama, Bahamas and Spain.

The five Indians — Gurjit Singh Kochar, Syed Mohamed Masood, Sneh Lata Sawhney, Chaud Kauser Mohamed Masood and Sangita Sawhney — have been asked by the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA) to file an appeal within 30 days before the Federal Administrative Court if they do not want their details to be shared with Indian authorities under the ‘mutual assistance’ treaty on tax matters.

A notice to Gurjit Singh Kochar was issued on April 21, 2015, in which only the date of birth — June 5, 1980 — and nationality — Indian — were mentioned by the Swiss authorities. Similarly, Chaud Kauser Mohamed Masood (DOB: May 5, 1957; Indian) and Syed Mohamed Masood (DOB: October 24, 1956; Indian) were served notices on April 21. Chairman of Mumbai-based City Limousine Syed Mohamed Masood is already under probe by various agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate, for alleged money laundering.

Two other notices to Sneh Lata Sawhney (DOB: October 3, 1942; Indian) and Sangita Sawhney (DOB: August 15, 1958; Indian) were served on May 12, 2015. Sneh Lata Sawhney is the wife of Bhushan Lal Sawhney, managing director of Sawhney Tyres. Sangita Sawhney is the wife of Praveen Sawhney.

The notice served by the Swiss tax authorities, while making it clear that the five can seek legal recourse, said: “The notice of appeal must contain the request, the justification with reference to the evidence and the signature of the complainant to contain person or their representatives.” According to Swiss tax authorities, the names made public are of foreigners and foreign firms wanted in tax probes by their countries of origin. It has been reported that Swiss authorities are getting formal tracing requests from foreign tax authorities.

In February, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists made public data files leaked to French authorities in the so-called SwissLeaks case. It revealed the names of over 1,000 Indian HSBC account holders. India was ranked 16 among the countries with the largest dollar amounts in the leaked Swiss files.

The NDA government, which had promised to bring back black money during the 2014 LS election, is under pressure to establish a robust mechanism to ensure that swindlers who stashed money in offshore accounts. A bill to deal with black money stashed abroad was recently passed by Parliament. The new Act will provide a limited window to those having foreign assets and they can file a declaration before tax authorities within a specified period.