Their denials notwithstanding, former Union Minister in the UPA Government Preneet Kaur and members of her family are facing official scrutiny by tax authorities who say they are probing the link between her HSBC Geneva account and trusts and companies — as well as with properties allegedly owned by these entities in London and Dubai.
As reported in The Indian Express as part of the Swiss Leaks investigation (February 9, 2015), Kaur was among 1,195 Indians with HSBC Geneva bank accounts, details of 628 of which French authorities shared with their counterparts in India.
There was, however, no account balance mentioned against her name.
In what has turned out to be a test case for how off-shore secrecy layers are unpeeled, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) first received the names of trusts linked to Kaur’s HSBC account from authorities in France. And then details of companies and properties linked to them from authorities in British Virgin Islands (BVI) where a trust was registered in the name of Preneet Kaur’s son, Raninder Singh.
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