Includes industrialist Yashovardhan Birla.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: After months of deliberation, the Swiss government revealed the names of illegal account holders in the country’s banks who are under the scanners in their respective countries for cases related to amassing unaccounted wealth.
The names of Indians revealed by Switzerland include, Gurjit Singh Kochar, Yash Birla, Syed Mohammed Masood, Chaud Kauser Mohammed Masood, Sneh Lata Sawhney and Sangita Sawhney.
- Gurjit Singh Kochar is the son-in-law of late realty baron Ponty Chadha who died during crossfire between him and brother Hardeep, over the argument about the ownership of a disputed property.
- Yashovardhan (Yash) Birla is an industrialist and owner of Yash Birla Group. After his name was revealed by the Swiss government, the official spokesperson of his company came with a statement saying that “Mr. Yash Birla has no individual bank account in his name or under his control. This has been explicitly confirmed earlier by the Swiss bank in writing and the same has already been communicated to the Indian tax authorities.”
- Sayed Mohammed Masood’s bank accounts were the first to be frozen by the Swiss authorities. Masood is the Chairman of ‘City Limousine’, which has been under the scanner of enforcement agency for floating illegal fraud investment plans.
- Chand Kauser Mohammed Masood, wife of Sayed Mohammed Masood, has also been named in the list released by Swiss authorities.
- Sneh Lata Sawhney was one among the names revealed by The Indian Express on February 2015. Her son Praveen Swahney’s name was there in the list made public by Arvind Kejriwal in 2012 who was then the forerunner of India Against Corruption campaign. The name of Sangita Sawhney, wife of Praveen Sawhney, is also reportedly in the list revealed by the Swiss government.