Mauritius to help India unravel black money trail

At the same time, the Indian Ocean’s island nation has also asserted that it will not allow any “sensational fishing expedition” and has taken strong exception to its name being linked to each and every financial scandal.

Replying to email queries on whether it would help India track black money, the Mauritian Finance Ministry told PTI that Mauritius was collaborating with India to track the “black money” and the collaboration between the two countries has been strengthened on this front.

Mauritius’ Ministry of Finance and Economic Development replied in the affirmative to a query on whether it would share banking information on Indian entities with accounts in the country.

Concerns have been raised in the recent past over suspicion of round tripping or routing of Indians’ illicit money back into the country through the Mauritius.

Indian agencies are said to have increased their oversight after they noticed a significant surge in venture capital funds coming from Mauritius in sectors like telecom and real estate, which have been under close scrutiny in recent times for money laundering.

The tax—friendly regime in Mauritius has always been a key factor for entities that wish to invest in India to set up shop in the island nation. However, this tax benefit has also come in handy for those wishing to indulge in round tripping activities or routing of illicit funds back into India through the Mauritius.

Detailing the various steps taken by Mauritius on the black money issue, the Finance Ministry of the island nation said it has received various information requests from India on this matter and they all have been duly answered.

“However, information sharing for intelligence purposes and mutual legal assistance are provided on established international practices and not on sensational fishing expeditions,” the ministry said.

Switzerland, which is said to be the biggest haven for Indian black money, has also ruled out any fishing expedition (trawling of their bank accounts) by India or any other country in the hope of finding something interesting.

Swiss banks have said they would only entertain information sharing requests backed by concrete proof of a suspected tax offence by their account holders.

Mauritius said its existing treaty with India provides for sharing of banking information and its banks and other financial institutions are required to maintain “full and true written record of every transaction they conduct.