Panama Papers: Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan among alleged tax evaders

Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan have been listed among over 500 Indians who allegedly used a law firm in Panama to set up offshore entities in tax havens across the world. This fact was unveiled through a massive leak of 11 million documents from the secret files of Mossack Fonseca, the Panama law firm with offices in 35 countries.

The documents showed that Indians possibly violated tax rules through masked ownership of firms they allegedly set up abroad. Amitabh Bachchan is named as a director of at least four shipping companies registered in offshore tax havens and set up 23 years ago. On the other hand, Aishwarya too was a shareholder of a firm in the British Virgin Islands.

This fact was brought to the fore by Indian Express that was a part of an investigation by an international coalition of media outlets. They were among the 100 others who were scrutinising offshore financial dealings of the rich and famous, based on a vast trove of documents. The stash of records was obtained from an anonymous source by a German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung who then shared it with the media worldwide.

There is no evidence that Amitabh or Aishwarya used their companies for improper purposes and having an offshore entity is not illegal as per the law passed by the RBI in 2004. But it surely comes at a time when the Modi government is taking major steps to bring back the vast sum of black money stashed abroad by many well-known Indians.

Watch this space for more…