Massive tax evasion: Amitabh, Aishwarya among 500 Indians with hidden assets

April 4, 2016

New Delhi, Apr 4: The names of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, real estate tycoon KP Singh and late gangster Iqbal Mirchi figured in a list of over 500 Indians who allegedly used a law firm in Panama to set up offshore entities in tax havens across the world, a newspaper reported on Monday.

ami

The Indian Express said a study of more than 11 million documents from the secret files of Mossack Fonseca, the Panama law firm, showed that Indians possibly violated tax rules or masked ownership of firms they allegedly set up abroad.

The newspaper claimed that while Aishwarya Rai was a shareholder of a firm in the British Virgin Islands, her father-in-law – superstar Amitabh Bachchan – was the director of four shipping companies in the Bahamas. It said Indiabulls owner Sameer Gahlaut acquired “three top London properties” via “entities” in the Bahamas and Jersey, and DLF promoter KP Singh and his family owned firms in the British Virgin Islands.

The promoters of Apollo Tyres, business tycoon Gautam Adani's elder brother Vinod Adani, West Bengal politician Shishir Bajoria and former Loksatta Party leader Anurag Kejriwal were some other Indians named in the newspaper report.

Until 2003, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) norms did not allow an Indian citizen to set up an overseas entity. In 2004, resident Indians were allowed to remit funds of up to $25,000 a year under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) – the limit of which stands at $250,000 a year now.

The media claimed that while RBI let individuals buy shares under LRS, it never permitted them to set up companies abroad. The Mossack Fonseca documents allegedly show companies were set up long before the rules were changed, and the purpose may have been to park foreign exchange in a tax haven.

Individuals named in the newspaper report were yet to comment, and government officials were expected to respond later. The report in the Indian Express formed part of an investigation by an international coalition of media outlets into the offshore financial dealings of the rich and famous, based on a vast trove of documents provided by an anonymous source.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalism, a non-profit organisation based in Washington, said the cache of 11.5 million records detailed the offshore holdings of a dozen present and former world leaders, besides businessmen, criminals, celebrities and sports stars. Political figures from Iceland, Ukraine, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Argentina were named in the reports.

Hindustan Times wasn't immediately able to verify the allegations made in the articles that were published by over 100 news organisations across the world.

Comments

Sameer Kandak
 - 
Tuesday, 5 Apr 2016

It's better to appoint ABC as brand ambassador of Hidden asset projects

Rikaz
 - 
Monday, 4 Apr 2016

Its brand ambassador's way of doing business.....he is roll model...people should follow him...if you have excess money go and do your business out side India....avoid taxes.....Amitabh is saying this...literally...

Abufarhan
 - 
Monday, 4 Apr 2016

Unfortunately Amitbh is a next presidential candidate of Feku's party

Abufarhan
 - 
Monday, 4 Apr 2016

Unfortunately Amitabh is next presidential candidate of Feku's party.

KhasaiKhaane
 - 
Monday, 4 Apr 2016

Remembering the days when #MoNa used to say -
\Congress wale Kala dhan lane se darthe hain.. NDA Kala Dhan wapas Layenge..\"
\" 15 Lakh, har ek ke account me...\"
and hearing all this
#Bhakts got an orgasm, - #MoZi MOZi MOzi,,...
LOL...!!"

Swetha
 - 
Monday, 4 Apr 2016

Hidden Assets ohh god, without any doubt crore,million,billion will be there.

Prem Sagar
 - 
Monday, 4 Apr 2016

less shocking more knowing.

Nihal
 - 
Monday, 4 Apr 2016

Someone had suggested Big B's name for the post of India's next president. And i heard he was also dreaming for the post!

Neeraj Dumb
 - 
Monday, 4 Apr 2016

Oh. That's y this amithab started doing 'bhaktgiri' these days.

Lobo
 - 
Monday, 4 Apr 2016

Shame on you. And you call yourselves nationalists. ugly creatures. liars.

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 4,2020

Bengaluru, May 4: First year Pre-University results of Karnataka Department of Pre-University Education will be released soon.

According to a report, the first year PU result will be released on the registered mobile numbers of students or parents on May 5. The report also asked the colleges which offers PU course that the PU results should not be released on the notice boards.

This measure has been taken keeping in view to avoid gatherings in and around the institutions to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The Deccan Herald report also said the students who are not able to clear the exams after the PU results are declared will be given a chance to appear for supplementary examinations in college level and further details on this will be shared with the institutes by the department in due course.

"After the declaration of results, colleges can conduct online classes for students who are eligible to attend second year PU classes," the report added.

The state is yet to complete the SSLC (class 10) and PU second year (higher secondary or class 12) examinations as the spread of coronavirus and subsequent lockdown announced by the government has put the whole academic activities out of gear in the state.

Recently, the education minister has said the SSLC examinations in the state will be conducted as it is a "crucial stage in a student's life".

"We will consider it (SSLC examinations) when the situation becomes normal," The New Indian Express quoted the minister as saying.

The Karnataka SSLC exam was scheduled to be held between March 27 and April 9, and over eight lakh students had registered for the exam.

Updates on the date and other decisions regarding PU second year exams are awaited.

Earlier, the school education department had decided to promote class 7 and 8 students without any exams in the wake of lockdown aimed at controlling the spread of COVID-19.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 4,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 4: The Karnataka government has tweaked quarantine requirements for people arriving from Maharashtra, raising the isolation time from a fortnight to three weeks, an official said on Wednesday.

"Returnees from Maharashtra will be sent to institutional quarantine for seven days, followed by 14 days strict home quarantine, total 21 days," tweeted Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey.

The 21-day quarantine regimen is for all asymptomatic people returning from Maharashtra, considering most of the Covid cases in Karnataka are having domestic travel history to that state.

If any of the asymptomatic people develop symptoms during the isolation, they will be subjected to a Covid test.

However, some asymptomatic individuals from Maharashtra have been provided some exceptions from the three-week quarantine and designated as special category passengers.

Special category passengers include people who suffered a death in family, pregnant women, children below 10, elderly people above 60, individuals suffering from serious illness and human distress.

Similarly, the department has also made some provisions for business travellers from Maharashtra.

"To establish that one is a business visitor, (that) person should show confirmed return flight or train ticket which should not be more than seven days later from the date of arrival," ordered Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar.

Similarly, if a business visitor is arriving on road, he should provide the address proof of the person in Karnataka he intends to meet.

Additionally, such a person should also produce a Covid negative test certificate which is not more than two days old.

"One does not have a Covid negative test certificate such a person should go for institutional quarantine for two days within which Covid test should be conducted at his own cost. After the test result is negative, that person is exempted from quarantine," he said.

However, business travellers have been exempted from hand stamping.

Amending the Sunday orders, Bhaskar, has enhanced the quarantine requirements for Maharashtra returnees.

Many conditions for visitors from other states remain mostly unchanged as notified on Sunday.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 28,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 28: Historian S. Shettar, 85, breathed his last early on February 28 in Bengaluru. He was suffering from respiratory problems and was hospitalised for over a week.

Shettar was known for his multi-disciplinary work, encompassing linguistics, epigraphy, anthropology, the study of religions and art history. He had extensively worked on the Jain practice of ritual death in Karnataka and Asoka edicts. He had studied and compiled early edicts in Kannada and worked extensively on the growth of Kannada language down the ages.

Born in 1935 at Hampasagara, Ballari district, he went on to study at Cambridge University and started his career as a Professor of History at Karnatak University, Dharwad, his alma mater. He later headed the National Museum Institute of the History of Art, Conservation and Museology in 1978 and Indian Council for Historical Research in 1996. He was also a visiting professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru.

He was a bilingual historian who wrote in English for most of his career, but started writing in Kannada in later years. In the last two decades, he developed a keen interest in linguistics and wrote multiple books on classical Kannada and Prakrit. His 2007 book “Shangam Tamilagam” is considered a seminal work in the study of the early period of Dravidian languages. It won him Bhasha Samman from Central Sahitya Akademi. He later wrote two works on Halegannada, classical Kannada. His most recent work was “Prakrita Jagadvalaya” in 2018.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.