Swiss bank data list contains Indian names, says Assange – TOI – 27.4.11

‘Indian Govt Not Aggressively Going After A/c Holders’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: In an interview that could trigger a new controversy over Indian businessmen stashing black money in Swiss banks, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said he had seen Indian names in a list of Swiss bank account holders and added that the data was going to be made public.
    “Yes, there are Indian names in the data that we have already published or are going to publish. I can’t remember specifically whether there are Indian names in the coming publication. But I have read Indian names,” Assange told Times Now in an interview telecast on Tuesday.
    He, however, declined to reveal anything more on the issue at this stage.
    In the course of the 50-minute interview, Assange appealed to the Indians to “absolutely not lose hope” that the names of those with secret Swiss accounts will come out at one point in the future. Hinting that WikiLeaks might work with specialized agencies before releasing the Swiss bank data, he pulled up the Indian government for not being aggressive like Germany in going after the list of Indian account holders. “In fact, India should be more aggressive because India seems like it is losing per capita more tax money than Germany.”
    Assange had earlier claimed that he was handed over documents of bank accounts by a former banker Rudolf Elmer and the whistleblower also claimed that the names in the documents came from “US, Britain, Germany, Austria and Asia — from all over,” and include “business people, politicians, people who have made their living in the arts and multinational conglomerates — from both sides of the Atlantic.”
    Assange also dismissed the contention of the Indian government that accords on double taxation were coming in the way of tracking the trail of black money. “Double taxation does not have anything to do with asset hiding. It doesn’t simply cover asset hiding,” he said. Assange said that the issue of stashing black money in foreign banks was much worse than just local corruption as when money is pushed offshore, “.....then everytime they are selling rupees and the result is that the currency of the nation is debased...everything for all Indians become more expensive as a result of that transfer.”
    The WikiLeaks editor-in-chief said he was being offered a swap deal if he handed over exclusive details of Swiss banks and their secret account holders list, explaining the delay in the publication of the Swiss bank secrets.
    He said the the offer, that was indirect and through a third party, was that if WikiLeaks returns the data, then whistleblower Judith Elmer would be set free. EXPLOSIVE REVELATION
    Yes, there are Indian
    names in the data that we have already published or are going to publish
India should be more aggressive because India seems like it is losing per capita more tax money than Germany
Double taxation does not have anything to do with asset hiding. It doesn’t simply cover asset hiding
Julian Assange | WIKILEAKS CHIEF