HSBC whistleblower Herve Falciani on Monday claimed that millions of crores worth of illicit funds are being moved out of India. He said that he is willing to cooperate with the Indian investigative agencies in their black money investigations, but would need protection, reported the Press Trust of India.

Addressing Indian journalists via Skype, Falciani stressed that governments should ensure that whistleblowers are protected. He said, "We are not protected. If I am coming to India, I will be arrested. We just need simple protection.”

Switzerland has pressed charges on Falciani for leaking details of HSBC bank account holders in the Geneva branch. Falciani, a former IT employee of the bank, fled Geneva with files that are alleged to show evidence of tax evasion by clients, which were leaked to the media. The list of bank account holders later reached the French government, which shared with India information relating to Indian clients of the bank.