Hidden wealth, tax avoidance by 714 Indians: Paradise Papers

Paradise Papers, millions of documents from a Bermuda law firm Appleby, leaked on Sunday name 714 Indians with an Indian firm, Sun Group founded by Nand Lal Khemka as Appleby’s second biggest client, reported The Indian Express, part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists ( ICIJ) which had released Panama Papers also in 2013.

The leaked papers also name union minister Jayant Sinha and BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP R.K. Sinha. While the minister of state for civil aviation is revealed to have been a director in an offshore company, R.K. Sinha, founder of SIS security services is found to have subsidiary companies registered in Malta to oversee international operations.

India ranks 19th in the number of countries vis-à-vis the accounts of Appleby disclosed in Paradise Papers.

Other Indians who figure in Paradise Papers include film star Amitabh Bachhan and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia. Among a clutch of Indian companies named are Jindal Steel, Apollo, Havells, Emaar, Essar, Hindujas and MGF.

The ICIJ made it clear that most of the transactions did not involve any legal wrongdoing. But the very fact that so many of the super-rich individuals and corporations reached out to a law firm in Bermuda to advise them on investment in offshore companies reveals a window into the complex web of financial arrangements to hide their wealth and avoid paying taxes.

Paradise Papers have come as an embarrassment to 120 politicians and world leaders and over 100 corporations that include names like Apple, Nike and Allargan. Some of the highlights of the leaked documents on Sunday are the following :

• Russian investment in Twitter and Facebook
• Involvement of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s chief fund raiser in moving millions
• Links between the US Commerce Secretary and Russian President’s son-in-law
• Investment made by the British Queen’s private estate in dubious firm
• Australian mining companies’ investment in tax havens

The leak, which exposes that there are one set of rules for the super-rich and another for ordinary citizens, has already triggered fresh demands for more transparent taxation by Governments. There is also clamour for declaring tax details in the public domain and a global summit of world leaders to fix aberrations in international finance.