Amitabh Bachchan, who has been named along with 500 others Indians in the Panama Papers leak for having an offshore account and evading taxes, denied any links with those companies mentioned in the documents.
On Monday, the Indian Express carried a report on the leaked documents of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, which named world leaders including Indian bigwigs for holding offshore accounts to evade taxes. The list includes names of Bollywood celebrity Amitabh and his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Responding to the Indian Express report, Big B said that the paper does not suggest any illegality on his part.
"I do not know any of the companies referred to by Indian Express - Sea Bulk Shipping Company Ltd, Lady Shipping Ltd, Treasure Shipping Ltd and Tramp Shipping Ltd," the actor said in a statement, according to IANS.
"I have never been a director of any of the above stated companies. It is possible that my name has been misused," he said, adding: "I have paid all my taxes, including on monies spent by me overseas. Monies that I have remitted overseas have been in compliance with law, including remittances through LRS, after paying Indian taxes.
"In any event the news report in Indian Express does not even suggest any illegality on my part."
While Amitabh denied any links with the companies, Aishwarya's media adviser Archana Sadanand said that the information was false.
"What is this consortium (ICIJ) and what does it do? Is this an authorised entity and how do we know that the information they get is authentic? All information that you have is totally untrue and false," she told the Indian Express.
The Panama Papers leak, which is said to be the biggest leak in history, is based on an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). ICIJ, along with 100 other news organisations around the world, revealed the list of people with offshore accounts.
