More Swiss bank account names tumble out; Yash Birla on list

Industrialist Yash Birla and two Mumbai-based individuals behind City Limousines scam are among the five Indian nationals with Swiss bank accounts whose names have been made public in Switzerland's official gazette, with regard to ongoing tax probes against them in India.

The other two are Gurjit Singh Kochar, son-in-law of late realty baron Ponty Chadha, and a Delhi-based businesswoman Ritika Sharma.The names of these five "Indian nationals" have been made public in Switzerland's Federal Gazette with regard to details sought about them by the Indian authorities.

Among these, some details have already been shared by the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA) with India, including about Birla and Sharma of Blessings Apparel. These are in addition to the two other Indian - Sneh Lata Sawhney and Sangita Sawhney - whose names have also been made public in similar manner for being probed by the Indian tax authorities.

"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," an official spokesperson of Yash Birla Group said in an emailed statement.

Repeated calls to Sharma did not elicit any response.In case of Sayed Mohamed Masood, being probed for a major ponzi scheme from Mumbai through City Limousines, some details were shared by the Swiss authorities in the past. His accounts were also frozen a few years ago following a request from the Enforcement Directorate.Fresh details about him and about Chaud Kauser Mohamed Masood have been sought by the Indian authorities, according to the notifications published in Switzerland's official gazette.

Earlier also, when Birla's name had come out in a leaked HSBC list of Swiss bank accounts, he had declined to comment.A family representative declined to comment on the notification issued about Kochar, who is believed to be outside India. He is facing probe by the income tax department and other agencies for quite some time.No contact details were available for comments from Masoods.