The Panama Papers leak revealed information about over 200,000 offshore companies, including those owned by several heads of state. In India, the government moved quickly to establish a task force to investigate the more than 400 Indians named in the leak. The Central Board of Direct Taxes sends monthly reports to the Prime Minister's Office on the investigation's progress. Other agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and Reserve Bank of India are also involved in investigating Indians who may have violated tax and currency regulations through their offshore holdings. The leak demonstrated that many Indians had not properly declared offshore assets or used amnesty programs as required.

1. Impact of Panama Papers
By Rahul Tripathi
(Senior Assistant Editor)
The Indian Express, India
(Partner of ICIJ)

2. What are Panama Papers?
• Largest leak of secret data and biggest collaborative
story in the history of investigative journalism.
• The size of the leak is a staggering: 2.7 terabytes and
more than 11.5 million pages of leaked documents
• The Panama Papers give details of 210,000 offshore
companies over a 40-year period.
• Details of companies set up in 21 offshore
jurisdictions, almost half in the BV Islands.
• The ICIJ collaborated with 150 journalists for the
expose; it rose to around 250 after the story broke on
April 4.

3. THE IMPACT
• From Russian President Putin to Pakistani PM Nawaz
Sharief and several heads of government in UK, Iran,
Argentina came under the scanner and some of them
had to resign.
• Icelandic PM resigned following massive protests over
disclosures of BVI companies owned by him, his wife.
• A week later tax officials from 28 countries including
India met in Paris to develop a strategy.
• Headquarters of Mossack Fonseca was raided by
Panamian authorities following the revelations.

4. The Indian Express reports…

5. The Indian Express reports…

6. IN INDIA: GOVERNMENT MOVES FAST
• By noon on April 5, Finance Minister announced
setting up of a multi disciplinary task force.
• It was revealed that PM Narendra Modi himself, early
on the day the story broke, asked for the probe.
• Within days, summons began to be sent to those
named by The Indian Express/ ICIJ structured data
• In all, 424 persons under the scanner as part of the
Panama papers probe.
• A fortnightly, and now, monthly report is sent by the
CBDT to the PMO.

7. ROLE OF ED and RBI
• In the 2013 offshore leaks ICIJ-Indian Express
investigation the process took two years. 50 cases
have been prosecuted in Delhi alone.
• Finance Minister also said that 50 cases have gone to
ED from ICIJ’s earlier exposes into HSBC accounts.
• For Panama Papers, RBI sent over 20 cases to ED
where liberalized remittance scheme norms were
flouted.
• It is expected that details from jurisdictions will start
flowing to India within the next few weeks
• Then many secrets/details of holdings will tumble out.

8. The follow up stories…

9. And the follow up stories…

10. LESSONS FROM PANAMA PAPERS
• That scores of Indians did not declare their offshore
entities in tax returns as required to
• That they did not use amnesty window/scheme to
declare offshore companies and now to face a more
stringent law.
• That since summons have been sent even to NRIs (non
resident Indians); no longer are they exempt from
scrutiny
• That people who register offshore companies
sometimes make part declarations
• That scores of Indians registered offshore companies till
a few months before the leak; i.e. after previous leaks.
• That the LRS scheme too has been used as a cover
and that the RBI needs to have stricter norms/controls.

11. Thank you…
Rahul Tripathi
Senior Assistant Editor
The Indian Express, New Delhi. India
Phone: +91 9810101684
Email: rahul.tripathi@expressindia.com