Black money: CBDT reviews HSBC accounts, ICIJ cases

The CBDT on Thursday reviewed some important black money and tax evasion probes being conducted by the Income Tax department, including the HSBC Geneva banks list and few others where it is suspected that Indians have stashed assets abroad.

Officials said the apex policy-making body of the tax department took stock of the investigations in these cases and sought a coordinated and prompt filing of prosecution cases, especially of those which are being supervised by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money.

They said the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), during the meeting via video conferencing, went through the fine points of the investigation and prosecution cases of those Swiss bank accounts of Indians which were held by them in the HSBC bank Geneva, apart from those which were published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

The Income Tax department, till now, has filed over 140 prosecution complaints in courts against the HSBC account holders while over 50 notices have been issued in cases related to the ICIJ data.