From: S. Kalyanaraman
Date: Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 2:48 AM
Subject: 'Indian-sounding names in Swiss Bank's secret accounts'
To:
'Indian-sounding names in Swiss Bank's secret accounts'
PTI, Jan 18, 2011, 10.21pm ISTThe channel, Headlines Today, showed a list purportedly containing names of the secret account holders in Julius Baer Bank and Trust Ltd, a Swiss Bank. The list was handed over by one of its former employees Rudolf Elmer to Assange.
The channel showed the list purportedly containing Indian- sounding names but made it clear that it could not independently verify the genuineness of the identity of the account holders or whether they are Indians or not.
Two entities had purportedly parked about USD 95 million (about Rs 432 crore).
Elmer told the channel, "I think that owner of Julius Baer is very much in the business of India. They actually hired investment managers sitting in India for getting money out of India."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/7314564.cms?prtpage=1
Swiss money: 'Indian' link revealed?
New Delhi January 18, 2011
Swiss banks are known for their secrecy. Tales of bankers refusing to release information about clients are legendary, even when threatened with dire consequences.
However, Headlines Today has been able to access the revelations from whistleblower Rudolf Elmer, who is believed to have unmasked a number of tax dodgers and high net worth individuals, who have stashed away black money in Swiss accounts.
Over the last several months, Headlines Today has been in constant touch with former Julius Baer employee, Rudolf Elmer. The data has been shared by Rudolf Elmer himself with Headlines Today.
Headlines Today contacted Elmer over email and phone and he has shared with it many names that hold secret bank accounts in Julius Baer Bank & Trust Company Ltd, Cayman Islands.
Elmer has shared account details and the modus operandi, revealing how these accounts are opened and money is laundered across continents without the knowledge of the government. Headlines Today's investigative team scanned through each and every folder of this compact disk to dig out the Indian connection to the Swiss money trail.
Reporter: Since you have been associated with Julius Baer bank in Cayman Islands, can you share some data with us?
Elmer: I have to go through the data. I just came across some information about India. That's basically about Swiss Partner that's a company, which basically provided the insurance company for rich internationals. India and Ukraine are mentioned there. Mexico is also mentioned.
Elmer: I think the owner of the former Julius Baer group is very much in the business of India. They actually hired Indian investment managers sitting in India and getting money out of India.
Annapurna
As Headlines Today's investigation team scanned documents after document looking for an Indian connection in this maze of Swiss bank accounts, the one name that kept cropping up again and again was that of Annapurna.
In the data shared by Ex-Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer, there are at least three companies that go by the name of Annapurna.
These accounts have been opened in the New York branch of the Swiss Bank Julius Baer.
These accounts are Annapurna Convertible Ltd, account number 420331
Annapurna Leverage Ltd, account number 427039
Annapurna Convertible USD, account number 431916.
Money running into crores of rupees has been stashed away in these accounts.
57 million dollars or Rs 259 crore have been stashed away in Annapurna Convertible ltd.
18.6 million dollars or Rs 84 crore are lying in Annapurna Leverage Limited.
And 10.3 million dollars or Rs 45 crore are hidden away in the account of Annapurna Convertible.
Interestingly, the documents list the same company and same person as managing all the Annapurna accounts.
Annapurna Convertible, Annapurna Leverage and Annapurna Convertible USD are all managed by Pius Fisch of Fisch Asset Management.
Now that Annapurna's account numbers are known and the amount of money stashed away in these accounts has also been revealed by Rudolf Elmer, the country's investigating agencies can easily join the dots and trace the money back to benami businessmen or politicians who may have pushed the money out of India. But that is an act that will require strong political will.
Asad Ali Khan
The other name to come out was that of Asad Ali Khan and his wife Zahida, who was a co-account holder.
Reporter: How did you trace Asad Ali Khan's name in it?
Elmer: He is also mentioned on the excel sheet. He is listed as a client.
Headlines Today scoured through the records sent to us by Rudolf Elmer and found out how Asad Ali Khan had siphoned off a huge amount of money to the Julius Baer Bank in Cayman Islands.
A company in the name of Unicorp Services was incorporated in Cayman Islands.
Its registered address is Post Box 1100, Kirk House, Grand Cayman Island, BWI.
According to Elmer's documents, the registration number of the company is 00233755.
In the year 1999, Asad Ali Khan and Zahida were present for the dissolution of this company as directors of Unicorp Services in Cayman Islands.
Elmer's data also shows that the account was being managed by J.M.I. Gillani.
The official address is: Banque Julius Baer, 2 Boulevard du Theatre, Case Postale, CH 1211, Geneva 11, Switzerland.
Headlines Today does not know who this Asad Ali Khan is. It has not been able to establish his whereabouts. But it was able to ferret out more names in the compact disc provided by Rudolf Elmer.
Julius Baer clarification
Julius Bare clarified to Headlines Today, "On yesterday's press conference we do not comment as nothing specific has been disclosed. Elmer was dismissed in 2002 and any data he has stolen must date back to that year or even further. He has published data several times since then, and many of the documents he used were fake or falsified."
Julius Baer's clarification
New Delhi January 18, 2011
On 19 January 2011, a trial will take place in the District Court of Zurich against Rudolf Elmer on account of coercion, etc. - the case has periodically been covered in the media over the past years. Some background information follows:
At the time of his dismissal in December 2002, Rudolf Elmer worked as the Chief Operating Officer of Julius Baer Bank & Trust Company Ltd. in the Cayman Islands.
Evidently disgruntled and frustrated about unfulfilled career aspirations, Mr. Elmer exhibited behaviour that was detrimental and unacceptable for the Bank, which led to termination of the employment relationship. After his demands (including financial compensation) in connection with the dismissal could not be satisfied, Mr. Elmer embarked in 2004 on a personal intimidation campaign and vendetta against Julius Baer.
The aim of his activities was and is to discredit Julius Baer as well as clients in the eyes of the public. With this goal in mind, Mr. Elmer spread baseless accusations and passed on unlawfully acquired respectively retained documents to the media, and later also to Wikileaks. To back up his campaign, he also used falsified documents and made death threats against employees.
In 2005 the Swiss press reported on a CD containing data that reputedly related to Bank Julius Baer and was leaked to the media.
Based on these reports, Julius Baer notified the regulatory authorities and filed a legal complaint against persons unknown.
The official investigation also covered subsequent threats against the Bank and certain employees. The extensive inquiries eventually led to the indictment by the district attorney that will go to trial on 19 January 2011 in the District Court of Zurich.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/StoryPrint?sId=127002&secid=114&page=null
1 comment:
This is chicken shit amount mentioned here. Our corrupt politicians have more than 1000 crore indian rupees each. Why dont they give out those names
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