Black money list: Meet account holders Pradip Burman, Radha Timblo and Pankaj Lodhiya

After much dithering, the government has finally named three Swiss bank account holders in the Supreme Court. According to the affidavit submitted by the government, the three businessmen are being probed under the Income Tax Act and Money Laundering Act.  The government has been under pressure to disclose names but disclosure of this information is extremely powerful. The three businessmen whose names were submitted are Pradip Burman, former executive director of the Dabur group, Pankaj Chimanlal Lodhiya, a bullion trader, and Radha Timblo, director of Goa-based company Timblo Pvt Ltd. [caption id=“attachment_1576767” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] So, who are these businessmen? Radha Timblo, one of the names disclosed by the Centre, has been linked to illegal iron ore mining in Goa. The mining lease involved also has a Pakistani connection. A Times of India report of December 2012, quoting a Central Empowered Committee (CEC) report on illegal Goa mining, noted that “the mining lease was granted in the name of an individual who had migrated to Pakistan and died there. He was never involved in operating the mining lease or seeking renewal of it.” Instead, the lease was allowed to be “operated illegally by a partnership firm comprising Timblo Pvt Ltd, Ms Radha S Timblo and others. The mining lease has been renewed by the Goa government in favour of the partnership firm owned and controlled by the Timblo family by disregarding and in blatant violation of Rule 37 of Mineral Concession Rules, 1960." Raman Kirpal, a Firstpost editor at that time, wrote an extensive story on this mining lease as far back as September 2011. This is what he wrote. “Mavani’s mining lease was not given to anyone till 2004, when Kamat’s Directorate of Mines contended that the Timblo family had entire possession and control of the Mavani mining lease since 1957. It was also contended that there was no documentary evidence proving that Badrudin Mavani had lost Indian citizenship when he moved to Pakistan. You can read more on Timblo here.   Pankaj Chimanlal Lodhiya is the proprietor of Shreeji Trading Company, a bullion trading company established in 1997 based in Rajkot, Gujarat.     The company, with the long track record, is a dominant player in the Rajkot market.  The site notes ’trust, purity and honesty’ as the group’s motto. Lodhiya denied to the media that he held accounts in Switzerland. He told CNN-IBN that that he has disclosed everything to the Income Tax Department. He also said he was shocked to see that his has figured in the list submitted by the government. He told TimesNow that he did not have any political connections. You can read more about Lodhiya here. Pradip Burman served as an Executive Director at Dabur India Ltd from 1 May, 2007 until 31 January, 2012.   As of 30 September 2014, Pradip Burman holds 3.94 lakh shares of Dabur India whose current worth is at Rs 8.16 crore at a current price of Rs 207 per share. Reacting to the news of Pradip Burman being named by the government in the black money case, a Dabur spokesperson said the account was opened when he was an NRI. You can read more about Pradip Burman here.