The media have gone to town over Indian money in Swiss bank accounts and the immediate trigger has certainly been L.K. Advani’s press statement of March 29. Since there is discussion without checking facts, let’s first have a quote from the Advani press release. “The extent of illicit money lodged in Swiss banks is mind-boggling. Estimates vary... According to Wikipedia, they totalled $2.6 trillion (Rs 130 lakh crore in today’s exchange rate) in 2001. In 2007, they were believed to be about $5.7 trillion (Rs 285 lakh crore), a staggering 80 per cent increase in six years... It is equally well-known that many wealthy Indians have deposited their illicit monies in secret Swiss bank accounts and tax havens elsewhere around the world. As per credible estimates, these amounts range between $500 billion (Rs 25,00,000 crore) and $1400 billion (Rs 70,00,000 crore)... In February, UBS, the largest Swiss bank, was forced by the US tax authorities to reveal the names of some 300 presumed tax evaders. The US threatened to sue UBS. Fearing that this could lead to the demise of the bank, the Swiss authorities invoked an emergency clause in their banking law and gave the data to the US... Last year, I had written a letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh about the need to get the names of Indians, presumed to have secret accounts in LGT Bank in Liechtenstein in Western Europe... The BJP will form a Task Force comprising experts in law, accounting, management and intelligence to prepare a strategic document for India to recommend ways to get back the national wealth stashed away illegally by the corrupt politicians, venal businessmen and criminal overlords.”

... contd.