THE Income Tax Department has moved a Ludhiana court with a prosecution complaint against former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for being an alleged beneficiary of foreign assets which were traced due to details emerging from the probe into Indians holding HSBC Geneva bank accounts.
The Swiss Leaks case, receipt of details of 628 HSBC accounts including one in the name of Amarinder Singh’s wife, Preneet Kaur, as well as those of a string of trusts and off-shore companies, was first reported by The Indian Express in 2015.
Calling the complaint “malafide and politically motivated,” Amarinder Singh today said the Income Tax Department had “failed to dig out any proof’’ of his alleged foreign assets.
But the complaint filed on November 18 details the substantial data that was received by FT&TR (Foreign Tax and Tax Research) division from 2011 on, first from France and, subsequently, from replies received from Dubai, Switzerland and the British Virgin Islands.
As reported by on June 9, 2015, the tax chase led authorities from the HSBC account to various entities incorporated by Amarinder Singh’s son, Raninder Singh, namely Jacaranda Trust and the Mulwala Holding Limited where the former Chief Minister was also a beneficiary holder.
