Left to govt: Confiscate black money in Swiss Bank accounts

The Left parties today asked thegovernment to confiscate the black money allegedly stashed in Swiss Bank accounts and make the names of the account-holderspublic.

"Government should not only obtain full details of theseaccounts, but also make the names of the account-holderspublic and bring the money back to the country for investmentin social projects," party leader Sitaram Yechury toldreporters here.

In a statement, the CPI(M) Politburo said the "laxity"of the UPA Government in unearthing black money stashed inSwiss Bank accounts and other tax havens "has been exposed bythe recent observations of the Supreme Court".

It said the "unaccounted and ill-gotten wealth, amassedthrough tax evasion, money laundering and other illegal means,parked in these Swiss Bank accounts should be directlyconfiscated by the Union Government from the Swiss Banks.

"These monies should be brought back to India and thedetails of the account holders must be made public," it said,adding that any delay in undertaking these steps would beunacceptable.

Earlier, CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan had said,"What is the secrecy about black money? Why are they notrevealing the names? Why are they keeping them (names) undersealed cover? We want to know who they are".

He had said that those who had kept money stashed inSwiss bank accounts had done so to evade taxes. "They are taxevaders. They have committed a crime. The fund should beconfiscated."

The Left parties'' demand came after the apex court pulledup the government for witholding information on black moneystashed in foreign banks, saying it was not just limited totax evasion but was a "mind boggling crime" amounting to"theft" and "plunder" of national wealth having securityramifications.

Earlier, a Swiss bank staffer had handed over details of2,000 secret Swiss bank accounts to whistle-blowing siteWikileaks, claiming the list, contained in two compact discs,included names of about 40 politicians, multinationalcompanies and financial institutions from Asia, Europe and theUnited States.

Maintaining that the website would publish the list infuture, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said he wanted theworld to know the truth about money concealed in offshoreaccounts, how they evaded taxes and the systems in place tokeep this secret.

Source: OneIndia