ED files charge sheet against man named in Panama Papers for holding undisclosed foreign assets

'Panama Papers' pertains to the investigation into a stockpile of records from a Panamanian legal firm by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in 2016 that had named several world leaders and celebrities who have allegedly stashed away money abroad in offshore companies.

New Delhi : The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday said it has filed a charge sheet under the anti-money laundering law against a man, whose name figured in the Panama Paper leaks, for alleged possession of undisclosed assets abroad. The prosecution complaint against Sanjay Vijay Shinde, his wife Aparna and a company named Venus Bay Offshore Ltd. was filed before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Bhopal on October 18 and the court took cognisance of the charge sheet on Friday, the federal agency said.

The money laundering case against Shinde stems from an Income Tax Department charge sheet that was filed earlier under the anti-black money law. The I-T department acted against the man as part of its probe into the Panama Papers leak.

Dubbed 'Panama Papers', an investigation of a stockpile of records from Panamanian legal firm Mossack Fonseca by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in 2016 had named several world leaders and celebrities who have allegedly stashed away money abroad in offshore companies.

Some of them were stated to be holding valid overseas accounts. The leaks tranche had a total of 426 India-linked cases. The ED said Shinde established an offshore company in tax haven British Virgin Islands (BVI) in the name of Venus Bay Offshore Ltd. "He received a sum of Rs 21.87 crore in the bank accounts of the said company maintained at UBS-AG Bank, Singapore."

"The accused was the sole director, shareholder and beneficial owner of the said company," it claimed. Since the interest in the foreign company and the assets in the form of money received in the foreign bank account were "not disclosed" by the accused in his Income Tax return, proceedings under the Black Money Act were initiated against him and a prosecution complaint was filed by the tax department.

The ED alleged that the accused brought the money to India from the BVI company through NRE/NRO accounts route and invested it into foreign currency non-resident (FCNR-FD) account. The accused subsequently liquidated these funds and invested into various movable and immovable properties, it claimed.
"The accused had purchased properties across Bhopal, Goa, Vadodara and Mumbai using the proceeds of crime. These funds were also invested in mutual funds, shares, FDs, LIC policies and as capital investment in businesses," it said.

The total "proceeds of crime" in this case have been calculated at Rs 34.22 crore, the ED said. The agency had earlier conducted searches at multiple premises of Shinde and seized assets worth about Rs 30 crore.