Herve Falciani who leaked the names of thousands of illicit bank account holders at HSBC in Geneva
New Delhi:
Herve Falciani, the black money whistle-blower who the Indian government established contact with after NDTV's exclusive interview last month, has been indicted by Swiss authorities for industrial espionage.
Mr Falciani had earlier told NDTV he could help India's investigation against companies cheating tax authorities on a huge scale and clients hiding wealth in foreign accounts.
Swiss authorities confirmed to NDTV that Mr Falciani tried to sell secret banking data in Lebanon in 2008, a charge Mr. Falciani has always denied. Switzerland is charging him with unauthorised obtention of data, breach of trade secrecy and violation of banking secrecy.
Mr Falciani, who holds both French and Italian nationalities, has no pending cases nor traveling restrictions in any other country.
"The presumption of innocence prevails until a legally binding court judgment is available," said Swiss authorities in their statement of indictment.
This development should in no way prevent India from reaching out to Mr. Falciani.
Switzerland had issued an international arrest warrant against him in 2009 following which he was arrested Barcelona in 2012. However Spain's national court ruled against his extradition to Switzerland and a magistrate said his information had revealed that big banks were functioning as private tax havens.
Swiss authorities in their statement of indictment said that Mr Falciani was "sometimes celebrated as a hero abroad" and added that it was possible to hold a court trial in absentia.
In 2011, France shared part of HSBC data with the Indian government. That is "just the tip of the iceberg", Mr Falciani had told NDTV. (Read - India Has Less Than 1% Info on Black Money, Herve Falciani to NDTV: Full Transcript)
According to the whistleblower, this information is on a cloud and can only be accessed by governments. He told NDTV his assistance could help India get concrete results within six months. (Read - In 6 Months, Expect First Good Results on Info on Black Money, Herve Falciani to NDTV: Full Transcript)
India has a list of 627 account holders at HSBC - their names were submitted recently to the Supreme Court, which is monitoring the government's attempts to recover black money. About 400 of the names have been identified so far, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, and of them, 250 have admitted to holding foreign accounts.
Mr Falciani had earlier told NDTV he could help India's investigation against companies cheating tax authorities on a huge scale and clients hiding wealth in foreign accounts.
Swiss authorities confirmed to NDTV that Mr Falciani tried to sell secret banking data in Lebanon in 2008, a charge Mr. Falciani has always denied. Switzerland is charging him with unauthorised obtention of data, breach of trade secrecy and violation of banking secrecy.
Mr Falciani, who holds both French and Italian nationalities, has no pending cases nor traveling restrictions in any other country.
"The presumption of innocence prevails until a legally binding court judgment is available," said Swiss authorities in their statement of indictment.
This development should in no way prevent India from reaching out to Mr. Falciani.
Switzerland had issued an international arrest warrant against him in 2009 following which he was arrested Barcelona in 2012. However Spain's national court ruled against his extradition to Switzerland and a magistrate said his information had revealed that big banks were functioning as private tax havens.
Swiss authorities in their statement of indictment said that Mr Falciani was "sometimes celebrated as a hero abroad" and added that it was possible to hold a court trial in absentia.
In 2011, France shared part of HSBC data with the Indian government. That is "just the tip of the iceberg", Mr Falciani had told NDTV. (Read - India Has Less Than 1% Info on Black Money, Herve Falciani to NDTV: Full Transcript)
According to the whistleblower, this information is on a cloud and can only be accessed by governments. He told NDTV his assistance could help India get concrete results within six months. (Read - In 6 Months, Expect First Good Results on Info on Black Money, Herve Falciani to NDTV: Full Transcript)
India has a list of 627 account holders at HSBC - their names were submitted recently to the Supreme Court, which is monitoring the government's attempts to recover black money. About 400 of the names have been identified so far, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, and of them, 250 have admitted to holding foreign accounts.
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