The Income Tax Department has reportedly served notices to Nita Ambani and their three children – Anant, Akash and Isha Ambani – under provisions of the 2015 Black Money Act. The notices were served on 28 March 2019 for their alleged undisclosed foreign income and assets, reported The Indian Express.
The probe by the I-T department allegedly began in 2011 when the government received details of around 700 Indians holding accounts in HSBC Geneva. In the media investigation that followed in 2015, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), called Swiss Leaks, claimed that there were 1,195 account holders at the HSBC Geneva.
These were a mix of Indian individuals and entities.
The Indian Express had reported that a cluster of 14 HSBC Geneva accounts, with a balance of 601 million dollars, held by offshore entities in tax havens were all linked through various mediators of the Reliance Group.
In the details of the 4 February I-T probe report accessed by the publication, members of the Ambani family have been named as the ‘ultimate beneficiaries’ of one of the 14 companies. The amount was reportedly invested through various foreign and domestic entities.
Mukesh Ambani’s family was served the I-T notice after much back and forth between the Mumbai Income Tax unit and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), reported The Indian Express.
A Reliance spokesperson denied all the allegations and even denied the receipt of any such notice while responding to The Indian Express.
Correction: An earlier version of this report incorrectly reported that Mukesh Ambani was served a notice under provisions of the 2015 Black Money Act.
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