 Hasan Ali Khan or Syed Mohammed Hassan Ali Khan is a 56-year-old alleged stud-farm owner based in India and allegedly worth USD 8-9 billion or more according to police-authorities. This figure has been verified by INDIA TODAY from a letter written by UBS, Zurich, to Khan. The Government of India has confirmed the existence of this account in UBS, and ordered him to pay Rs 50,000 crore in tax on that wealth but Khan hasn't paid a rupee. According to Khan, he is a simple scrap dealer with an annual income of Rs 30 lakh. However, some sources claim that he might as well be the fourth richest person in India and one of the world's richest men, perhaps surpassing even legitimate billionaires like Azim Premji or Mukesh Ambani, India's richest man. However, he is not officially recognized as a billionaire by any publication because most of his money is in the form of unaccounted wealth or black money. This might as well be true because credible sources say that India tops the list for black money in the entire world with almost US$1456 billion in Swiss banks (USD 1.4 trillion approximately). According to the data provided by the Swiss Banking Association, India has more black money than the rest of the world combined.
Disclosing the list of defaulters in the Rajya Sabha on 4 August 2009, the Minister of State for Finance S S Palanimanickam said in a written reply that Hassan Ali Khan tops the list of tax defaulters with an outstanding arrear of more than Rs 50,000 crore (USD 10 billion). Former Union Minister and BJP MP Arun Shourie said that Ali Khan has been known to be connected to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, known to have been channeling very large amounts from unknown sources into the Indian stock market and had 8 to 9 billion dollars in the UBS and other banks of Switzerland, and has been responsible for hawala transactions (money laundering) of over Rs. 35,000 crore (USD 7 billion) through Swiss banks. When asked if Hassan Ali is likely to be arrested, India Today editor Prabhu Chawla said that he doesn't "have much hope" citing that getting Swiss banks to disclose details is not easy as India hasn't signed a treaty with the Swiss government and also due to Indian government's attitude.
In January 2011, news reports stated that, "Swiss banks will hold back information on cash allegedly stashed there by Pune-based stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan on a technical ground. Swiss authorities’ refusal to part with the information is on the premise that the offence allegedly committed in India - in this case of not filing tax returns - is not an offence under Swiss law." Folco Galli, information chief of the Swiss department of justice and police, claimed that the Indian government had submitted "forged" documents to seek assistance in the Hasan Ali Khan case. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said investigators had information on three Swiss bank accounts being allegedly held by Hasan Khan, but no money was left in them. In one, $ 60,000 was deposited but withdrawn within a day and no trace was left.
Switzerland's Federal Office of Justice (FoJ) had last told Indian authorities in August 2010 to complete their request and the request has not been completed so far.
How his bank account swelled
Evidence from a June 2003 document recovered by the agencies, duly notarised by the Notary Public of London
• Khan had started an account with a deposit of $1.5 million with UBS Singapore in 1982. The recommendation for opening the specified bank-account was organised by Dr Peter Weilly through arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, whose portfolio was handled by Weilly
• A payment of $240 million (allegedly from Adnan Khashoggi's Chase Manhattan Bank account in New York) was approved by Weilly and accepted by Reto Hartman at UBS Singapore
• After the $240 million transaction, the account moved from UBS Singapore to UBS Zurich in 1986
• By December 1997, the deposit amount reached $560 million. Due to certain problems, Khan could not operate this account (Swiss authorities froze the account saying that the "Funds were from weapons sale.")
• By 1999, the same account mysteriously increased to $969 million (~ US$ 1 billion). Most of this money is lying as liquid cash and bonds
• As on August 31, 2006, the balance in the account was US$6.6 billion
• Balance as on November 2, 2006: $7.7 billion
• Balance as on December 8, 2006: $8.04 billion
ED’s findings included Khan’s plan to finance a $500 million project of Khashoggi that was contained in a notarized document signed by him on 29 June 2003 in London. A notarized document is certified by a licensed public officer who serves as an impartial witness and establishes the authenticity of the signatures. The two transfers of $1.6 billion and $7 million that are said to have come to light recently were carried out in November 2006 through correspondent banking, an arrangement where one bank makes or receives payments on behalf of another. The money was transferred from Bank Sarasin to a US branch of Citibank NA, then to Barclays Plc in the UK and finally deposited in a firm in the UK. ED is now conducting fresh inquiries into the matter. Khan has challenged the tax authority’s demand for unpaid taxes in the income tax appellate tribunal.
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_Ali_Khan
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Who is Hassan Ali Khan?