My name misused; no links with any of companies: Amitabh on Panama files
05 April, New Delhi
Breaking silence on the Panama Papers where his name and that of his daughter-in-law Aishwariya Rai Bachchan featured along side 500 Indians, superstar Amitabh Bachchan Tuesday said he has not associated with any of the companies mentioned in the documents.
According to a media report, documents from the secret files of Mossack Fonseca, a law firm headquartered in tax haven Panama, revealed names of Amitabh, his daughter-in-law Aishwarya and corporates including DLF owner K P Singh and nine members of his family, and the promoters of Apollo Tyres and Indiabulls to Gautam Adani’s elder brother Vinod Adani.
The records revealed that these individuals have paid the firm and bought the benefits of the secretive, lax regulatory system in which it operates to set up offshore entities in tax havens around the world.
In a statement, the actor said, “I do not know any of the companies referred to by The Indian Express – Sea Bulk Shipping Company Ltd, Lady Shipping Ltd, Treasure Shipping Ltd, and Tramp Shipping Ltd. I have never been a director of any of the above stated companies. It is possible that my name has been misused. I have paid all my taxes including on monies spent by me overseas. Monies that I have remitted overseas have been in compliance with law, including remittances through LRS, after paying Indian taxes. In any event the news report in Indian Express does not even suggest any illegality on my part.”His statement came a day after Aishwarya termed the documents “totally untrue and false”.
Following directions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Finance Ministry had yesterday constituted a special multi-agency group consisting of officers from investigative unit of Central Board of Direct Taxes CBDT, Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and Foreign Tax and Tax Research (FT & TR) division and representative of RBI to monitor the flow of information in cases of over 500 Indians whose names have appeared in leaked Panama papers.