Indian Government Cracks Down On Black Money And Asks Switzerland Speed Up Investigation

The Indian government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stepped up its crackdown on black money stashed away abroad. There have been numerous accusations in the Indian media that politicians, businessmen and large corporate firms have accumulated millions of dollars through illegal means and stashed them away in Swiss banks.

The government gave in to media pressure and launched a full-fledged investigation into black money and promised to prosecute all corrupt officials and businessmen. Arun Jaitley the finance minister recently met Johann N. Schneider-Ammann, the economic affairs minister of Switzerland in Delhi and requested the Swiss government to provide detailed information on these black money accounts at the earliest.

In a statement, Jaitley said “A large number of these account holders have now made admissions before the government of India. As to whether admission itself is evidence on the basis of which they would act, they said indeed they would. And, this precise fact has been reaffirmed in the meeting today. We have made the request to Switzerland and we have asked them to expedite the process of confirmation of details that we have sought.”

Swiss banks are known for having strict confidential policies that allow them to protect their customers. However Switzerland agreed in 2014 to help India with its anti-corruption investigation into black money and has promised to speed up the process. India has also agreed to sign a bilateral agreement with Switzerland to facilitate the transfer of confidential financial information.