Falciani raising hue and cry, not responding to requests: SIT

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The special investigation team (SIT) on black money, on Tuesday rejected an HSBC whistle-blower’s claim that Indian authorities are not using a “lot of information” on illicit funds, saying he has created a “hue and cry” and not replied to its earlier requests.

SIT Chairman M B Shah said India is prepared to give Herve Falciani and other whistle-blowers “full cooperation” in the fight against the menace of black money.

“One should tell him to give information. We are waiting for it. We are prepared to give him full cooperation but let him give information and additional names (about Indians holding stash funds abroad),” Shah told PTI.

The SIT chief said it was a “wrong information” that he had put across to the journalists yesterday that Indian authorities are not cooperating with him.

“He is not replying. He has created a wrong hue and cry. We want to tell him that please give it (information) to SIT or to the government or to a journalist. Please, you (Falciani) share it in the interest of the country,” he said.

Justice Shah said the request of Indian investigative and enforcement agencies in this regard was communicated to Falciani by the Central Board of Direct Taxation (CBDT), the apex policy-making body of the income tax department, and SIT earlier.

Falciani, a former HSBC bank employee who turned whitleblower, while interacting through a video link from abroad yesterday, said a “lot of information” on illicit funds is lying unused by the Indian authorities. He added he was willing to “cooperate” with the investigative agencies in their black money probe but would need “protection”. He also claimed that “millions of crores worth illicit funds” are flowing out of India.

Falciani is facing charges in Switzerland of leaking details of bank account holders in Geneva branch of HSBC — a list which later reached French government and subsequently, was shared with India as it had accounts of those Indians who had stashed funds abroad.

"We are not here to talk about merely figures but about possible solutions," Falciani had said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also asked the whistleblower to share details with regard to such instances without putting any pre-condition.

"Government of India is making all efforts to bring the details (of black money accounts). The number of prosecutions that we launched in last one year were not done earlier. Whoever has whatever details, he or she should give it to us instead of putting any pre-conditions," Jaitley told reporters in response to questions on Falciani's remarks.