The Indian Express has named Niira Radia as one of 500 individuals owning offshore entities revealed by the Panama Papers.
Two days ago, The Indian Express carried the expose, naming some of the prominent faces among the 500 Indians featuring in the infamous ‘Panama Papers’. On Wednesday, the newspaper said that the leaked papers suggest Niira Radia was a primary shareholder in an International Business Company (IBC) set up by her father Iqbal Narain Menon.
Called Crownmart International Group Limited, the company was registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) by Mossack Fonseka in 1994, according to the leaked papers.
The Express notes that it is publicly known that Radia owned another Crownmart International (India) Pvt Ltd in London. However, the companies had been set up by her father.
According to the 232 documents accessed by IE, her name is written as Nira Radia. The report says she had changed her name to Niira only recently on the advice of an astrologer. IE reports that according to the documents, Radia is a British citizen.
In a reply to the newspaper’s queries, Radia’s office responded that the company was set up by her late father and that she was not a beneficiary. The statement also said that Radia had consistently disclosed her assets to both UK and Indian authorities.
Her office also stated that she had been a British citizen from birth and even her father was also never an Indian citizen.
PR honcho Niira Radia came under the spotlight in connection with the 2G scam when her telephone calls were tapped by I-T Department in 2008-09. Gaining infamy as the Radia Tapes, the conversations contained in those tapes were made public in 2010. They revealed how she lobbied with the then government in power for her clients which included Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and Tata among others.
It was widely reported on Monday how in a massive leak followed by a large effort in investigative journalism, more than 11 million documents from law firm Mossack Fonseca have been put out in public domain, with high-profile names from Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle to the family of Pakistan's prime minister cropping up.
The latest list, after similar ones came in the past like 'Swiss leaks' and the HSBC-list related to Indians, claims it has sourced data in connection to millions of documents which show heads of state, criminals and celebrities using "secret hideaways" in tax haven country of Panama.