Ex-BCCI chief moves apex court against office bearers stake in IPL

Chennai, May 8 (ANI): Former Board of Control for Cricket in India President A C Muthaiah has filed a case against present BCCI Secretary N Srinvasan and moved the apex court against office bearers holding stake in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

“My whole case is that I have been saying there is conflict of interest. Srinivasan has violated and there is conflict of interest. According to our rules, no administrator can have any commercial interest. Now that is being amended, so I have challenged the amendment of the rule,” said Muthaiah.

“Prior to the rules were amended, the office-bearers of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) were not allowed to engage in activities that conflicted with its commercial interests,” he added.

The noted industrialist has challenged the decision of the single-judge bench of the Madras High Court that had earlier dismissed his plea.

“When I filed the case it was only against Srinivasan. Now, I find that Pandora”s box is opened so there are so many, who have fallen in this trap of the conflict of interest so others also are responsible,” said Muthaiah.

He has also challenged the legality of the April 26 meeting of the Governing Council of the IPL that suspended its chairman Lalit Modi, accused of financial irregularities.

“There should be an independent probe, all the interested members should be out of both the BCCI and the IPL. When there is an independent member they will be able to take bold decisions. When I was the president, I took a bold decision against match fixing,” said Muthaiah.

“I was able to do it because I was quiet independent I was not involved with any player or any team or anything like that,” he added.

Srinivasan is the Managing Director and Vice Chairman of India Cements Limited that owns Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.

Tax authorities are probing the three-year-old IPL, valued at an estimated 4.1 billion dollars, after Shashi Tharoor resigned from the Union Council of Ministers being accused of using his influence in the formation of a newly franchised Kochi IPL team from Kerala. (ANI)

Indian tax authorities rule out involvement of Oz player in IPL match fixing

Sydney, Apr 27 (ANI): The report about the involvement of a famous Australian cricketer who allegedly helped fix Indian Premier League matches played in South Africa last year has been denied by Indian tax authorities.

Indian tax officials have denied issuing a report naming 27 cricketers, including a “famous Australian”, for spot fixing during last year’s IPL.

The story was first carried in Mid-Day newspaper, which quoted an income tax report as stating, “during IPL, the match fixing and betting racket has scaled new heights”.

It added that suspended IPL commissioner Lalit Modi is apparently deeply embroiled in both generation of black money, money laundering, betting in cricket and accused “Indian cricketers and a captain of one of the teams” in fixing matches.

The Sydney Morning Herald quoted a senior Indian income tax official as saying that no report had been released alleging impropriety on the part of 27 IPL players, pointing out that such a report was outside the department’s remit.

Shane Warne’s management has also strongly denied suggestions that the “famous Australian” mentioned in media reports last Friday was the Rajasthan Royals captain.

A source close to the players, who was in South Africa, confirmed there was plenty of talk about approaches from illegal bookmakers and said there had been “too much smoke” for there not to be some fire.

“There were a lot of rumours, particularly in and around the opening matches in Cape Town,” he said. (ANI)

ICC’s anti-corruption, security unit chief resigns

Sydney, Apr 27 (ANI): The chief investigator of the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption and security unit, Ravi Sawani, has resigned as the game confronts its most serious integrity issue in a decade.

With Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi suspended amid corruption allegations, and with a disputed report from Indian income tax department reportedly implicating 27 players in spot-fixing at last year’s IPL, cricket faces its greatest tests on match-fixing charges.

Sawani handed his resignation letter to his employers. His move comes as Paul Condon, the ACSU’s long-serving chairman, prepares to retire in June, leaving a leadership vacuum in the unit.

Condon’s replacement is expected to be named within a month, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Sawani’s resignation is not linked to the scandal engulfing Modi and the IPL, but rather a disagreement with ICC brass.

Security officials fear there has been a dramatic rise in spot-fixing, engineering outcomes within matches, since the advent of Twenty20.

Illegal bookmakers, whose activities were slashed after the formation of the ACSU in 2000, have been emboldened by their advances into Twenty20 and have been seen in increasing numbers around team hotels and functions.

The report about involvement of a famous Australian cricketer who allegedly helped fix Indian Premier League matches played in South Africa last year has been denied by the Indian tax authorities.

Indian tax officials have denied issuing a report naming 27 cricketers, including a “famous Australian”, for spot fixing during last year’s IPL. (ANI)

UBS deal not to be tied to bonus issue: Swiss President

(Reuters) – Switzerland’s economy minister said she hoped parliament would not link a deal between UBS (UBSN.VX) and the United States on disclosing secret bank accounts with questions such as bankers’ bonuses, the newspaper Sonntag reported on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the paper NZZ am Sonntag said three members of the government were proposing to link the UBS deal to a clamp-down on big bonuses and other measures to help pave its way through parliament.

Doris Leuthard, who is also president, said parliament’s failure to approve the agreement on disclosing 4,450 accounts that U.S. citizens used to hide money from tax authorities would sour relations between the two countries.

“I hope that parliament distinguishes between the agreement and open questions such as ‘too big to fail’ and regulating bonuses,” she said. “The government wants to solve these problems, but it’s not possible to link them all.”

The deal hit a stumbling block after a Swiss court ruled in January that such a transfer of data would breach existing law, and the government suggested parliament approve the agreement retroactively to solve the dilemma.

The right-wing SVP party, which holds the largest proportion of seats in parliament’s lower house, is against the deal, while the Social Democrats want it linked to questions such as bonuses.

The government will discuss the UBS deal and an interim report on banks that are “too big to fail” at its meeting on Wednesday.

Citing sources close to the government, the NZZ said the foreign, justice and finance ministers had drawn up a four-point proposal to help ensure the UBS deal gets passed.

Companies would not be allowed to charge bonuses over 2 million Swiss francs ($1.87 million) as costs on their corporate taxes, the government would be allowed input on salaries at firms taking state aid, employee stock options would face higher taxes and the “too big to fail” commission’s proposals would get support, the NZZ said.

Reuters reported the finance ministry’s plan on April 12.

Leuthard told Sonntag that she thought banks needed stricter capital adequacy and liquidity rules.

CURRENCY, TRADE

Leuthard also said she hopes the euro does not fall further against the Swiss franc and that she is keen to conclude free trade agreements with India and Ukraine, among other states.

“Because other (euro zone) members have high levels of debt, I hope that the euro doesn’t weaken further,” Leuthard said. “That would be dangerous for our export industry.”

Despite the Swiss National Bank’s policy of fighting an excessive appreciation in the Swiss franc against the euro, the Alpine unit has gained more than 5 percent against the euro since December, in part due to market worries about ballooning debts in Greece and other southern European countries.

Leuthard said Europe accounted for about 70 percent of Swiss exports and that, to take advantage of emerging markets, Switzerland needed to clinch trade deals with the rest of the world faster than the European Union.

“We’re hoping for progress in 2010 with several countries, such as India and Ukraine,” she said. “With Russia and China, I hope to open negotiations. Thailand and Indonesia are also on the list.” (Reporting by Catherine Bosley; Editing by Louise Heavens)

UPDATE 1-UBS deal not to be tied to bonus issue-Swiss President

ZURICH, April 25 (Reuters) – Switzerland’s economy minister said she hoped parliament would not link a deal between UBS (UBSN.VX) and the United States on disclosing secret bank accounts with questions such as bankers’ bonuses, the newspaper Sonntag reported on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the paper NZZ am Sonntag said three members of the government were proposing to link the UBS deal to a clamp-down on big bonuses and other measures to help pave its way through parliament.

Doris Leuthard, who is also president, said parliament’s failure to approve the agreement on disclosing 4,450 accounts U.S. citizens used to hide money from tax authorities would sour relations between the two countries.

“I hope that parliament distinguishes between the agreement and open questions such as ‘too big to fail’ and regulating bonuses,” she said. “The government wants to solve these problems, but it’s not possible to link them all.”

The deal hit a stumbling block after a Swiss court ruled in January that such a transfer of data would breach existing law, and the government suggested parliament approve the agreement retroactively to solve the dilemma. [ID:nLDE60L1RV]

The right-wing SVP party, which holds the largest proportion of seats in parliament’s lower house, is against the deal, while the social democrats want it linked to questions such as bonuses.

The government will discuss the UBS deal and an interim report on banks that are “too big to fail” at its meeting on Wednesday.

Citing sources close to the government, the NZZ said the foreign, justice, and finance ministers had drawn up a four-point proposal to help ensure the UBS deal gets passed.

Companies would not be allowed charge bonuses over 2 million Swiss francs ($1.87 million) as costs on their corporate taxes, the government would be allowed input on salaries at firms taking state aid, employee stock options would face higher taxes and the “too big to fail” commission’s proposals would get support, the NZZ said.

Reuters reported the finance ministry’s plan on April 12. [ID:nLDE63B0V2]

Leuthard told the Sonntag that she thought banks needed stricter capital adequacy and liquidity rules.

CURRENCY, TRADE

Leuthard also said she hopes the euro does not fall further against the Swiss franc and that she is keen to conclude free trade agreements with India and Ukraine, among other states.

“Because other (euro-zone) members have high levels of debt I hope that the euro doesn’t weaken further,” Leuthard said. “That would be dangerous for our export industry.”

Despite the Swiss National Bank’s policy of fighting an excessive appreciation in the Swiss franc against the euro, the Alpine unit has gained more than 5 percent against the common currency since December, in part due to market worries about ballooning debts in Greece and other southern European countries.

Leuthard said Europe accounted for about 70 percent of Swiss exports and that to take advantage of emerging markets, Switzerland needed to clinch trade deals with the rest of the world faster than the European Union.

“We’re hoping for progress in 2010 with several countries, such as India and Ukraine,” she said. “With Russia and China I hope to open negotiations. Thailand and Indonesia are also on the list.” (Reporting by Catherine Bosley; Editing by Louise Heavens)

IRS audits fewer corporate taxpayers: critic

(Reuters) – U.S. tax authorities are doing fewer audits of big corporations than in the past, a research group charged, though the government said the report shines a light on the wrong metrics.

With the fastest growth — and highest potential revenue collection — among big companies, the good government group says the richest corporations are escaping scrutiny because the Internal Revenue Service is too focused on closing cases to meet internal performance targets.

“Cutting back the number of returns that you are auditing when that is the growth area would seem to be a move in the wrong direction,” said Sue Long, a professor of managerial statistics at the business school at Syracuse University and co-director of the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a research group that released the data.

Units within IRS have performance goals, though individual examiners do not.

IRS data shows it still examines the books at big companies more often than smaller ones, though it has been auditing a smaller percentage of big corporations.

In 2009, the Internal Revenue Service audited about 26 percent of corporations with assets of $250 million or more, compared with about 40 percent in 2004, according to the agency’s own data.

It opened the books of 10 percent of firms with assets between $10 million and $50 million in 2009, compared to about 9 percent in 2004.

“We do take significant exception to the conclusions that they’ve drawn,” said Frank Keith, an IRS spokesman, of the TRAC report.

Steven Miller, the agency’s deputy commissioner for Services and Enforcement, said that the IRS examines a full 100 percent of the really big companies — those with $20 billion or more in assets.

Miller also said the IRS audits about half of the firms with assets of between $5 and $20 billion. He didn’t have comparable data for prior years on that group.

TRAC looked at data in other ways, including the number of hours spent on cases that had been closed in any given year. They found that the IRS has cut by a third the hours it spends examining the books of companies with assets of $250 million and more, when compared with 2005.

Miller said the hourly data does not reflect volume because cases can take up to four years to complete and the measurement just looks at the year they are complete.

“It’s not indicative of our efforts in a given year,” he said. The current average time to close a corporate audit is close to 2 years, he noted.

He also said the large business group in IRS in the last two years hired 1,200 agents on top of the 5,000 already looking at big business. The IRS has about 13,000 revenue agents in total, examining individual and corporate returns.

Tax examiners could get a much bigger bang for their buck by putting a greater focus on big companies, TRAC said.

According to the group, which files detailed data requests from government agencies, auditors looking at bigger companies on average find underreporting of $10,000 per auditor hour, compared with findings of underreporting of $1,000 per auditor hour when smaller companies are examined.

(Editing by Andrew Hay)

UPDATE 1-Turkish Dogan Yayin 2009 net loss widens

* 2009 sales fall 15 percent

* Advertising market recovers in Q4

(Adds quote, details, background)

ISTANBUL, April 9 (Reuters) – Turkey’s biggest media group Dogan Yayin Holding (DYHOL.IS), embroiled in a major tax dispute, posted a net loss of 343.0 million lira in 2009, up from a year earlier loss of 323.9 million lira.

Dogan Yayin, which controls a large chunk of Turkey’s private media, was hit last year by a contraction in the country’s advertising market in line with a sharp slowdown in the economy.

However, fourth-quarter figures pointed to a recovery in the advertising market.

In a statement late on Thursday the company said sales fell 15 percent to 2.435 billion Turkish lira ($1.62 billion) last year from 2.880 billion the previous year.

In the fourth quarter, the net loss narrowed to 196 million lira from 281 million the previous year, with sales dipping 2 percent to 686 million lira.

“In the fourth quarter, in line with the recovery in the market, the domestic ad revenues increased by 12 percent year-on-year,” the company said in a statement.

In 2009 as a whole, the ad market contracted 17 percent.

“As a result of the recovery in the ad market, our continued focus on costs and further reduction in debt position parallel to strategic restructuring efforts, we project a strong recovery in our operational performance compared to 2009,” said Chief Financial Officer Soner Gedik.

The company has been locked in a dispute with tax authorities over a series of huge fines which have brought it into conflict with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s government.

In February Dogan said a tax court ruled in its favour over the payment of 772.5 million lira ($509 million) in dues and penalties related to a stake sale by its Dogan TV unit to Axel Springer (SPRGn.DE). [nLDE6100OZ]

The Springer-related ruling fuelled company hopes that its appeal against a separate $4.8 billion lira fine over tax irregularities will succeed.

(Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Mike Nesbit)

($1=1.503 Turkish Lira)

((daren.butler@reuters.com; +90 212 350 7057; Reuters Messaging: daren.butler.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: DOGANYAYIN/RESULTS

(C) Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution ofReuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expresslyprohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuterssphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group ofcompanies around the world.nLDE638034

Crisis club Pompey sacks 85 staff

Portsmouth administrator Andrew Andronikou announced overnight that 85 of the cash-strapped English Premier League club’s employees have been made redundant.

But he added he was receiving “enquiries on a daily basis” regarding a takeover for the bottom-of-the-table Premier League side and that no players had been sacked.

Portsmouth is due to return to the High Court on March 15 to answer a winding-up order brought by British tax authorities.

If a judge decides Portsmouth cannot overcome debts said to be totalling 76 million pounds ($124.35 million) they could be liquidated and go out of business completely.

Meanwhile, Pompey are facing the prospect of a nine points deduction for entering administration that would make their relegation from English football’s top-flight all but certain.

But last weekend Portsmouth, the 2008 FA Cup winners, beat Birmingham City to reach this season’s Cup semi-finals.

-AFP

Italian police seize Maradona’s diamond studs

Rome, Sep 19 (ANI): Beleaguered football legend Diego Maradona had to hand over his diamond studs to police as part payment for the millions he owes the Italian tax authorities.

Italian officials paid the holidaying Argentinean coach a visit at the luxury hotel he was staying in and seized the earrings worth nearly 4,000 pounds, Sky News reports.

Police claimed that Maradona still owes some 20 million pounds, dating back to his seven-year stint at the Italian club Napoli, where he frequently failed to pay income tax.

After fleeing Buenos Aires on Monday following Argentina’s four defeats in five matches of 2010 World Cup qualifier, Maradona, 48, is currently staying at a spa in the town of Merano in north-eastern Italy, where he is trying to lose weight.

Italian authorities had seized two of his Rolex watches worth 11,000 pounds in 2006, when he was staying near Naples.

In 2005, they seized the money he was to receive for taking part in a TV dancing show.

Four years earlier, he was met by 20 police officers as he got off a plane in Rome.

Italy’s Supreme Court ordered the ex-footballer to pay 36 million euros in unpaid taxes.

According to the association of Italian taxpayers, Maradona still has 22.4 million euros to pay.

Recently, Brazilian legend Pele took a blow at Maradona, saying he feels another Argentine-born player, Alfredo di Stefano, is the best player ever.

“Maradona was a great player, but he could not kick with his right foot and did not score goals with his head.

The only time he scored an important goal with his head, it turned out he had used his hand,” Pele said referring to Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in 1986 World Cup. (ANI)

Pak ambassador to Washington on tax defaulters list

Washington, Aug. 9 (ANI): A list released by the local government of Washington, D.C. has placed Pakistan’s Ambassador Husain Haqqani among tax defaulters for failing to pay tax on an apartment he owned in the US capital.

A notice issued by the deputy chief financial officer of the District of Columbia government said that if Haqqani fails to pay tax, authorities would auction Haqqani’s property on September 9, The Dawn reports.

However, a spokesman for the Pakistan Embassy in Washington insisted that the misunderstanding would be resolved on Monday.

Nadeem Kiani added that Haqqani was not a tax defaulter and he would issue a clarification after determining the facts. (ANI)

C.Suisse starts shutting US offshore accounts-report

C.Suisse closing down some U.S. offshore accounts

* Move comes after rival UBS came under probe

ZURICH, April 12 (Reuters) – Swiss bank Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) has started closing down the offshore accounts of U.S. clients who have not declared the money to the U.S. authorities, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

The Sonntagszeitung newspaper said the bank had about 2,500-5,000 U.S. clients with undeclared offshore accounts worth about 3 billion francs, without citing its sources.

The paper said Credit Suisse had started parting company with its U.S. offshore clients, giving them the option of moving their accounts to its CS Private Advisors subsidiary, which would report the accounts to the U.S. tax authorities, or writing them a cheque.

It quoted an unnamed Credit Suisse manager as saying the bank was only applying the new “zero tolerance” policy in individual cases for now but was considering a more general withdrawal from the U.S. offshore business.

Credit Suisse was not immediately available for comment on the article. Sonntagszeitung quoted a spokesman as declining to confirm the report, but noting the tougher approach of foreign authorities on offshore wealth management in recent times.

“CS sticks to all valid rules and regulations in various countries,” a spokesman told the newspaper.

The move comes after rival UBS (UBSN.VX)(UBS.N) said last year it would stop offering offshore services to U.S. citizens after U.S. authorities alleged that the Swiss bank has helped rich Americans hide money away from the taxman in Swiss accounts.

A newspaper reported earlier this year that Credit Suisse was writing to its U.S. clients holding Swiss accounts asking them to sign a form that would reveal them to U.S. tax authorities. (Reporting by Emma Thomasson; editing by Mike Nesbit)

Credit Suisse starts shutting U.S. offshore accounts: report

ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss bank Credit Suisse has started closing down the offshore accounts of U.S. clients who have not declared the money to the U.S. authorities, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

The Sonntagszeitung newspaper said the bank had about 2,500-5,000 U.S. clients with undeclared offshore accounts worth about 3 billion francs, without citing its sources.

The paper said Credit Suisse had started parting company with its U.S. offshore clients, giving them the option of moving their accounts to its CS Private Advisors subsidiary, which would report the accounts to the U.S. tax authorities, or writing them a check.

It quoted an unnamed Credit Suisse manager as saying the bank was only applying the new “zero tolerance” policy in individual cases for now but was considering a more general withdrawal from the U.S. offshore business.

Credit Suisse was not immediately available for comment on the article. Sonntagszeitung quoted a spokesman as declining to confirm the report, but noting the tougher approach of foreign authorities on offshore wealth management in recent times.

“CS sticks to all valid rules and regulations in various countries,” a spokesman told the newspaper.

The move comes after rival UBS said last year it would stop offering offshore services to U.S. citizens after U.S. authorities alleged that the Swiss bank has helped rich Americans hide money away from the taxman in Swiss accounts.

A newspaper reported earlier this year that Credit Suisse was writing to its U.S. clients holding Swiss accounts asking them to sign a form that would reveal them to U.S. tax authorities.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; editing by Mike Nesbit)