NEW DELHI: The government of India will soon receive details of money held in Swiss accounts by the powerful Salgaocar family of Goa. The Swiss Federal Court has ordered that India be supplied with the information it requested.
Industrialists Mukesh and Anil Ambani’s sister, Deepti, is married into the Salgaocar family. The details sought by the Indian government concern accounts held by trusts whose main beneficiaries are Deepti Salgaocar’s two children.
The Salgaocar family had been locked in a long legal battle in Switzerland to prevent India’s tax authorities from getting details of trusts set up by the family in that country.
India’s ministry of finance had requested details of these trusts about eight years ago.
The court has finally ruled in favour of transmitting the requested data.
Deepti Salgaocar’s daughter Isheta Salgaocar is married to Neeshal Modi, brother of Nirav Modi, who was declared a fugitive economic offender after he and his uncle Mehul Choksi were found involved in a scam involving alleged defrauding of banks of Rs 14,000 crore.
The Swiss court had earlier ordered release of information regarding the bank accounts of Anil Ambani, his wife Tina Ambani and their two sons Jai Anmol Anil Ambani and Jai Anshul Anil Ambani. The court had, however, directed not to release in public the names of Anil Ambani and his family. But Swiss investigative media outlets fished out the names from court records and put them out in public domain.
Late last year, the court had rejected a request by Kokilaben, mother of Mukesh and Anil Ambani, to anonymise her name while supplying information about her Swiss accounts to the Indian government.
The request for Kokilaben’s Swiss bank accounts was first made by India in 2012, but it was denied by the Swiss Federal Tax Administration. The government of India tried again in 2018.
This time the Swiss authorities agreed to give the requested information on December 28, 2021. This is when Kokilaben requested that her name be held back on the ground that it would create a “big stir” in India. She had also claimed that her personality was affected as her “reputation had been attacked”.
Sources said the famous Swiss banking secrecy is a thing of the past and the information so far received is just the beginning. They said the government was working on getting details of many more wealthy Indians and information on such accounts would soon be available.
Stash of Hinduja brothers to be outed
Among the other big names whose Swiss bank account details are expected to be released, too, are that of the Hindujas, a leading Indian business family.
Sources said information on Swiss accounts of the Hinduja brothers is expected in a matter of days.