‘The Media Is Failing To Generate A More Informed Debate On Black Money’

Journalist Noopur Tiwari on Swiss Leaks and why the Indian media has been lazy in its reportage on the black money issue.

WrittenBy:Manisha Pande
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Journalist and film maker Noopur Tiwari has reported extensively on the black money story. Based in France, she is the only Indian journalist to have interviewed whistle-blower Hervé Falciani. In an email interview with Newslaundry, she elaborates on the recent Swiss Leaks and the possible implication of The Indian Express report on the black money discourse.

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What do you think about the reportage on the Swiss Leaks by The Indian Express and other global news organisations? There’s a raging debate on in India whether publishing the full list of HSBC account holders was ethical since the account holders may not necessarily be guilty of tax evasion.

The published list is not the “full list”. It’s the outcome of the investigation done with one part of the HSBC data that insider Hervé Falciani leaked in 2008. This data has been used by many countries to establish guilt, recover tax and so on. So, if the investigation points to names , chances are, people do have money not only in these accounts, but in other accounts in other banks too. The wealthy like to split their money in different banks.

In my reports for NDTV, Mr Falciani, who is the source of this data and who has helped with investigations in many countries, has stated more than once that people denying they have money in the accounts are lying. He says the reliability of the data has been proven not just by investigators in various countries but also by other clients who collaborated with judicial authorities.

Whether it’s ethical or not depends on how you look at it. The list was given to India four years ago.

People want to know what the real story is. Publishing names of public figures also creates a much-needed stir and adds credence to claims that “ big names” figure in the list.

Revelations of this kind also give a chance to whistle-blowers like Falciani to come out of the shadows and speak about how the system works on the inside.

But if it’s just the scandalous aspect of the revelations that interests the media, Swiss Leaks won’t go too far. The media is failing to generate a more informed debate on the subject.

As for scruples, regarding citizen’s privacy, it’s not something the media worries about that much. So it’s rather odd that we should suddenly become hyper conscientious when it comes to the HSBC list. If politicians and public figures are sending big money abroad, they should be up for public scrutiny.

Do you think the Express report violates the privacy of individual account holders?

Yes, it does. But there seem to be few easier ways to reveal the scale and nature of what’s going on behind the scenes. Without such punctual revelations that show that the media is doing its own investigation, things are hardly likely to move forward if left to governments alone.

Your earlier interview with whistle-blower Hervé Falciani had him state that the Indian government has less than one per cent information about black money. An Indian delegation had gone to France to meet Falciani but not much has been reported on the meeting. Your take on why that may be?

As you know, Mr. Falciani has signed on to give information to India now. The government got in touch with him after seeing my interviews.

My understanding is that Mr Falciani seems to be keen on transparency to a certain extent and has always informed us when contacted by India. Indian investigators who come to Paris probably don’t have the mandate to speak on the subject, which clearly is a highly sensitive matter for the government. But Mr Falciani himself says he will never leak names — if countries want to, he says it’s their prerogative.

The situation is definitely tricky. On one hand, there is definitely the need for more transparency because we should know whether or not investigators are doing what they ought to. But if all is revealed, it seems it will be counter productive for the investigation. Anyway, the essentials should and have been reported. It’s mainly up to the government to bring in greater transparency to keep the public updated.

Do you perceive a wilful effort by the media, and indeed the government, to protect people, or go soft on the whole issue?

There has been little or no effort from anyone to “go big” on what is a story that should be of interest to the media as a whole. It can be out of lack of understanding of banking secrecy and offshore, which is lazy journalism. If not, maybe it is plain sycophancy. I think it’s a bit of both.

Considering the strict whistle-blower laws and the fact that Falciani is charged with industrial espionage, did/can your interview with him land you in trouble with the Swiss government? Did you face any intimidation?

Whistle-blowers laws don’t apply to journalists. But activists and whistle-blowers had advised me to exercise caution. But since Swiss Leaks, so many journalists around the world are on the Falciani story. Earlier there were only a few. I guess it will be difficult to silence everyone.

As a freelance reporter, is it more risky for you to report on the issue and interview someone who is deemed a criminal according to the Swiss law? In other words, do you feel confident that the organisations you report for, namely NDTV, will come to your help should there be a problem? 

I’m not sure how high the risk is nor do I know if someone will come to my rescue as I never asked because I do not wish to frighten anyone from taking my stories. But am not afraid. I cannot not report a story that’s sitting in front of me.

How realistic does the Indian government’s claim to bring back black money seem?

Hard to say. But so far at least the investigators have shown a willingness to go in the right direction. How far they’ll really go, only time will tell. What they do with Mr. Falciani’s information will be interesting to watch.

Do you think the Indian discourse on the black money issue is fixated on “the list” rather than tackling big issues of corruption and the modus operandi of the banking system that allows for stashing of money?

Absolutely. Editors and journalists need to do more homework on offshore!

How different is the approach of the French government or countries other than Indian in approaching this issue?

The important thing is that in France, Belgium and Argentina, the judiciary is tightening the screws on banks. In these three countries, criminal charges have been slapped on HSBC. Some countries have recovered millions. France recovered 300 million euros. Others like Greece published names and yet it led to nothing of great consequence. Now in India, the Income Tax department is planning to file a complaint against HSBC bank, Geneva, for “abetting” tax evasion in India, this is an important development.

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