Rajan says RBI probing Panama Papers

Says having foreign accounts is not an offence per se

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is investigating the recently leaked Panama files of law firm Mossack Fonseca, where about 500 Indians, including business people and Bollywood actors were found to have accounts in offshore locations.

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan in the post-policy conference on Tuesday said having foreign accounts was not an offence per se. Under the liberalised remittance scheme (LRS), any Indian can legally take out up to $250,000 per financial year for various purposes.

"We are part of the investigative team that is going to look into these matters. It is important to note that there are legitimate reasons also to have accounts outside. LRS scheme allows you to take money out," Rajan said, adding "we have to see what is legitimate and what is not legitimate." He did not go into further details on the issue.

After the names were published by The Indian Express, the finance ministry announced a multi-agency investigative team comprising the Central Board of Direct Taxes' financial intelligence unit, its tax research unit and officials from RBI.

"The group will monitor the flow of information in each one of the cases. The government will take necessary actions as required to get maximum information from all sources, including foreign governments, to help in the investigation," the finance ministry said.