Black money in Swiss banks India tops the list Forget the records at the Olympics and see the records Indians are going after.
A Swiss Banking Association report 2006, details bank deposits in the territory of Switzerland by nationals of following countries: Top five India------$1456 billion Russia ---$ 470 billion UK ------ $ 390 billion Ukraine - $ 100 billion China ----$ 96 billion This money has been misappropriated by dishonest industrialists, scandalous politicians and corrupt IAS, IRS, IPS officers by exploiting and betraying the people of India. This is 13 times the country's foreign debt. With this amount 45 crore poor people can get Rs 100,000 each. If this amount is invested, the interest will be more than the annual budget. 80,000 people travel to Switzerland every year, of whom 25,000 travel frequently. "Obviously, these people won't be tourists. They must be traveling there for some other reason," believes an official involved in tracking illegal money. This may be the picture in Swiss banks only. What about other international banks? Experts and economists believe tax havens to be a conspiracy of the West against poor countries. By allowing tax havens, the West encourages movement of scarce capital from the developing countries to the rich. In 2005, the Tax Justice Network (TJN) published a research finding demonstrating that $11.5 trillion of personal wealth was held offshore by rich individuals across the globe. This wealth was managed from some 70 tax havens. Raymond Baker -- in 'Capitalism's Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free Market System' -- estimates that $5 trillion have been shifted out of poorer countries since the mid-1970. 1% of the world's population holds more than 57% of its wealth, routing it through tax havens. Comment Surely the drug honchos, the grabbers and the mining pirates need to keep their money somewhere. Every foreign trip for "weddings" and "family functions" of these Goans need to be closely watched. -- Roland Francis Toronto +1 (416) 453.3371
