From: Seema Sapra <seema.sapra@googlemail.com>
Date: Wed, Apr 6, 2016 at 5:55 PM
Subject: Legal Notice to Kian Ganz and Legally India from General Electric Company whistleblower Seema Sapra for targeting on the Legally India website
To: cp.alokkumarverma@delhipolice.gov.in, "jeffrey.immelt@ge.com" <jeffrey.immelt@ge.com>, "ny1@ic.fbi.gov" <ny1@ic.fbi.gov>, "chairmanoffice@sec.gov" <chairmanoffice@sec.gov>, "fcpa.fraud@usdoj.gov" <fcpa.fraud@usdoj.gov>, ashish.sawkar@ic.fbi.gov, sg.rmaithani@sci.nic.in, "rg.dhc@nic.in" <rg.dhc@nic.in>, "NDwebmail@state.gov" <NDwebmail@state.gov>, "pmosb@nic.in" <pmosb@nic.in>, Murali Krishnan <murali@barandbench.com>, matthew.layton@cliffordchance.com, "Zia Mody (zia.mody@azbpartners.com)" <zia.mody@azbpartners.com>, president@whitehouse.gov, "Dimitrief, Alexander (GE, Corporate)" <alexander.dimitrief@ge.com>, "bradford.berenson@ge.com" <bradford.berenson@ge.com>, "banmali.agrawala@ge.com" <banmali.agrawala@ge.com>, Siemens Ombudsman COM <mail@siemens-ombudsman.com>, herwig.ganz@shell.com, donny.ching@shell.com, harry.brekalmans@shell.com
Cc: Seema Sapra <seema.sapra@gmail.com>, "KIAN GANZ (Legally India)" <kian.ganz@legallyindia.com>
Kian Ganz has chosen to defame me on his website after I exposed his biased defence of Harish Salve by allowing an anonymous comment saying "This lady is plain bipolar Kian, I have been saying that for years but you did not listen and thought she was an angel of propriety. Well you get what you sow"In response Kian Ganz has written "I did listen, but the situation is unfortunately a little more complicated than that..."Kian Ganz, Please me who is this anonymous person who has been telling you for "years" that I am bipolar? I have never spoken to you before July 2015.Please also explain your response "but the situation is unfortunately a little more complicated than that..."You objected to my making an alleged defamatory comment against Salve which in fact was not defamatory but only exposed your misrepresentation of facts. But you have no compunction in allowing an anonymous defamatory post calling me bipolar and then lending credence to it through your reply. And you did this after making sure I could not respond. You are a coward as well.You targeted me when the contempt judgment was issued against me in your post, in your comments and in your subsequent disabling of the links in my response. See http://www.legallyindia.com/bar-bench-litigation/heavy-handed-lawyer-seema-sapra-sentenced-to-1-month-jail-for-calling-judge-and-many-others-corruptYou Kian Ganz are a pathetic excuse for a human being in targeting a whistleblower for gain as you have done.I will not let this matter rest. I will use examples of targeting by you before the Supreme Court of India.Seema SapraGeneral Electric Company whistleblowerOn Wed, Apr 6, 2016 at 4:49 PM, Seema Sapra <seema.sapra@googlemail.com> wrote:Kian Ganz who runs Legally India is a former Clifford Chance lawyer who is now running a website for legal news from India called Legally India. Clifford Chance represents General Electric Company in very large transactions and legal matters.Legally India was set up to lobby for the opening of the Indian legal market to UK law firms like Clifford Chance. Kian Ganz is most likely funded by Clifford Chance. Clifford Chance was in a tie-up with AZB & Partners led by Zia Mody who have participated in the cover up of the corruption complaints against General Electric Company before the Delhi High Court. Kian Ganz has therefore enjoyed and continues to enjoy a close relationship to Zia Mody.So I am being targeted by Kian Ganz on behalf of two law firms Clifford Chance and AZB & Partners both of which represent General Electric Company.Seema SapraGeneral Electric Company whistleblowerOn Wed, Apr 6, 2016 at 1:31 PM, Seema Sapra <seema.sapra@googlemail.com> wrote:More defamatory comments posted targeting General Electric Company whistleblower by Legally India website owner at http://www.legallyindia.com/bar-bench-litigation/harish-salve-panama-papers-coverage-unfair-privacy-invasion-disclosed-all-investments-paid-rs-175-cr-of-tax#commentsNote how Kian Ganz allows an anonymous comment targeting me.15Like +0No like -0Told You So 2016-04-06 12:52This lady is plain bipolar Kian, I have been saying that for years but you did not listen and thought she was an angel of propriety. Well you get what you sow.Reply | Report to LI | # link15.1Like +0No like -0kianganz 2016-04-06 13:06I did listen, but the situation is unfortunately a little more complicated than that...On Wed, Apr 6, 2016 at 12:17 PM, Seema Sapra <seema.sapra@googlemail.com> wrote:Besides sending me nasty emails on the side, Kian Ganz has published the following comment at http://www.legallyindia.com/bar-bench-litigation/harish-salve-panama-papers-coverage-unfair-privacy-invasion-disclosed-all-investments-paid-rs-175-cr-of-tax#comment-82016 defaming me."Re Seema Sapra, in the interest of full disclosure, Ms Sapra has somewhat amusingly published some of the (defamatory) comments she wished to make on LI on a new blog created specifically for the purpose at: propagandaoutfitlegallyin dia dot blogspot dot inFeel free to judge those comments on their own merits and whether they should have found space on LI without moderation.Alas, Ms Sapra has not posted my rather reasonable responses to her emails, though it hardly matters - I would laugh about it but it's all too sad a situation really that I've witnessed for a long time now and I honestly think there's little hope for things getting better.Notwithstanding my pessimism, I wish Ms Sapra all the best and hope she will find assistance and what she seeks..."He has done this earlier as well and his earlier defamatory publications about me show that he was acting at the behest of General Electric lawyers to target me because of my corruption whistleblower complaints against General Electric.I will be producing all earlier material to show targeting by Kian Ganz in my whistleblower petitions in the Supreme Court of India. And the matter will not end there. I intend ultimately aim to have Kian Ganz prosecuted for targeting a whistleblower as part of attempts to cover up corruption by General Electric Company.For the record, I do not know this man. I met him briefly once in July 2015 and have otherwise only interacted with him online or on email.Seema SapraGeneral Electric Company whistleblowerOn Wed, Apr 6, 2016 at 11:47 AM, Seema Sapra <seema.sapra@googlemail.com> wrote:Kian Ganz who I have no interest in interacting with (I am only copying him on these emails exposing him) is sending me nasty emails on the side. For the record I have no wish to hear what Kian Ganz has to say, beyond exposing him. He runs a paid propaganda website that masquerades as a news site.Seema SapraGeneral Electric Company whistleblowerOn Wed, Apr 6, 2016 at 11:21 AM, Seema Sapra <seema.sapra@googlemail.com> wrote:
Harish Salve often described as the most successful lawyer in India has been exposed in the papers leaked from the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca. The Indian Express story on Salve's off shore BVI companies and activities is reproduced below.
How the Indian government investigates the extremely well-connected Harish Salve will be a test case for the rule of law and the justice system in India.
The attempt at cover-up has already started. Over at Legally India, a former Clifford Chance lawyer Kian Ganz who these days claims to be a journalist covering Indian legal news has already launched a one-sided, misleading and factually incorrect narrative that seeks to exonerate Salve even before he can be investigated. See http://www.legallyindia.com/bar-bench-litigation/harish-salve-panama-papers-coverage-unfair-privacy-invasion-disclosed-all-investments-paid-rs-175-cr-of-tax and http://www.livemint.com/Politics/JLoR5n29iz99xPgmpqB6sJ/Panama-Papers-coverage-unfair-privacy-invasion-Harish-Sal.html
It is strange the way Kian Ganz is defending Harish Salve, who sure has a lot to explain. Who was the friend Salve set up an off-shore company with? What mining interests was Salve about to invest in? Salve was a practicing CA himself before he became a lawyer. Is it his defense that he was led into illegality by his advisers? Even the facts of Salve's case are not out which will need investigating. It is strange how Kian Ganz jumps in at this premature stage to convey that everything was above board.
As of now everything Salve has said in his defence is just his unverified version. This has not been investigated. We do not know what assets his off-shore companies held, what the money trail is, whether assets were moved, whether he received illegal payments or bribes regarding his high-profile cases, whether he facilitated payments of bribes, whether there was money-laundering etc.
As of now Salve stands exposed as having been involved in questionable activity. Only an investigation can bring out the facts.Otherwise we might as well just accept every criminal's version and let him off.
Why would a lawyer like Harish Salve set up an off-shore company with a "friend"? Who is this unidentified friend?
Salve also recommended some Canadian citizens Mahajans to Mossack Fonseca. Mossack Fonseca records include a recommendation letter from Salve to Rawi & Co in 2007, asking them to set up a company and a trust for Ramesh Mahajan and Asha Mahajan.
This is not a lawyer referring a client to a law-firm (as Kian Ganz attempts to spin it). This is prima facie high risk activity? Does it sound like the kind of activity a lawyer of Salve's position would ordinarily engage in? There appears to be dirt waiting to be uncovered. Salve needs to be investigated.
We have no idea who these Mahajans are. They could be terrorists, or fixers, or money launderers. Only an investigation will reveal the facts. Who are these Canadian Mahajans? What is their connection to Salve? Are these persons Ramesh and Asha Mahajan connected to Selan Exploration Technology? See http://www.moneycontrol.com/bse/shareholding/shp_promoters.php?sc_dispid=SET and http://www.selanoil.com/
Salve has responded with his version. Merely because the Indian Express has not responded further, does not imply that what Salve said has been established as Kian Ganz improperly and misleadingly suggests. The Indian Express is not the investigating agency here. They obviously have only limited facts which they have disclosed and these facts prima facie raise the issue of questionable activity by Harish Salve. It is not for the Indian Express to rebut Salve. We don't even know what papers the Indian Express has. We only know what they have disclosed.
Kian Ganz of Legally India is not the investigating agency and cannot give Salve the "clean chit" (to use Indian lingo) as he attempts. Ganz has clearly misrepresented facts and exposed his dishonest journalism in this "defence" of Harish Salve.
This issue also does not raise privacy concerns as Salve suggests and which Ganz flogs in his article. Salve was the Solicitor General of India. He has appeared before the Supreme Court of India in the biggest legal cases involving corporations and politicians. The public interest was at stake in these matters. Salve has also often appeared as amicus curie before the Supreme Court. Evidence pointing to potential illegal off-shore activities of Harish Salve including the possibility that these off-shore entities/ accounts could have played a role in influencing justice and the Courts needs to be fully investigated. Harish Salve cannot hide behind the cloak of privacy.
"MF records show that Salve is listed as a director in Crestbright Ltd, which was registered in 2012 with Salendra Swarup as another director." Who is this Salendra Swarup? Is it the lawyer Shailendra Swarup?
Harish Salve's statements cannot just be accepted at face value and this issue cannot be closed as Kian Ganz wants us to. We do not know what Salve disclosed or not in his tax papers. Again an investigation is required.
Kian Ganz runs his website based upon advertisements and funds that he raises from Indian law firms. His business Legally India is financially and otherwise dependent upon law-firms and lawyers close to Salve. Kian Ganz has an existing relationship with Harish Salve which he has failed to disclose. This is journalism at its worst. It is really a public relations exercise masquerading as journalism.
Harish SalveOffshore entities: Crestbright Ltd, Pyebush Group Ltd, Edenval Ltd
Location:BVI
One of the most sought-after lawyers in the country, Harish Salve has represented celebrity clients in the Supreme Court. He was Solicitor General of India between 1999 and 2002.MF records show that Salve and his family members registered three offshore companies in the BVI — Crestbright Ltd, Pyebush Group Ltd and Edenval Ltd — through the London-based agent Rawi & Co with Vasant Vihar in New Delhi as the India address. MF records include a recommendation letter from Salve to Rawi & Co in 2007, asking them to set up a company and a trust for Ramesh Mahajan and Asha Mahajan.
MF records show that Salve is listed as a director in Crestbright Ltd, which was registered in 2012 with Salendra Swarup as another director. The other two entities were registered in 2008 with Salve's wife Meenakshi Harish Salve and daughter Sakshi Harish Salve as directors. MF records show that Edenval Ltd is listed as a shareholder in the incorporation documents of Pyebush Group Ltd.
Response: Salve said: "I set up Crestbright in 2012 — as a holding company to hold my lawfully made and fully disclosed investments based in the UK but the company has zero assets and zero income.
"I have been remitting funds since maybe 2003 under LRS. Out of these, some were invested in a portfolio in the UK and a patent in the US (a 25% stake with three other friends). Wanted to park these in a BVI company as at that time I was not a UK tax resident and wanted to avoid becoming one. Since 2014, I am a dual tax resident — UK and India, and so have not moved any assets into Crestbright.
"Edenoval was set up with a friend, and Pyebush was set up by me to hold shares in Edenoval. My friend had suggested some investments outside India and outside UK. Nothing materialsed; no income — no assets. All the three companies are virtually defunct.
"All my offshore assets upto 2014 were created out of funds remitted from my Indian bank to my UK bank account. After 2014, I have income in the UK too — and made some investments out of that. Since bank accounts are routinely called for by tax authorities, all Indian and UK bank details are filed. Nothing is withheld.
Available on my new blog - Fair Comment on Law, Justice and other Stuff at http://seemasapralaw.blogspot.in/2016/04/why-high-flying-indian-lawyer-harish.html
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