According to a review of nearly 12 million files obtained from 14 firms around the world, hundreds of world leaders, powerful politicians, billionaires, celebrities, religious leaders, and drug dealers have been hiding their investments in mansions, exclusive beachfront property, yachts, and other assets for the past quarter-century.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released a report on Sunday that featured 600 journalists from 150 media outlets in 117 countries. The revelations have been termed the "Pandora Papers" because they reveal previously concealed dealings of the rich and corrupt, including how they used offshore accounts to hide assets worth trillions of dollars.
Jordan's King Abdullah II, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Ecuadorean President Guillermo Lasso, and associates of both Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Russian President Vladimir Putin are among the more than 330 current and former politicians identified as beneficiaries of the secret accounts.
Turkish construction entrepreneurs Erman Ilicak and Robert T. Brockman, the former CEO of software manufacturer Reynolds & Reynolds, are among the billionaires named in the report.
According to the investigation, many accounts were put up to cheat taxes and hide assets for other nefarious purposes.
Sven Giegold, a Green Party lawmaker in the European Parliament, said, "The new data leak must be a wake-up call." "Tax evasion on a global scale fuels global inequality. Now is the time to broaden and refine our countermeasures."
The Pandora Papers were praised by Oxfam International, a British charity group, for exposing blatant cases of selfishness that deprived governments of tax revenue that could have been used to fund programs and projects for the greater good.
In a statement, Oxfam said, "This is where our missing hospitals are." "This is where all of the extra teachers, firefighters, and public servants' pay packets are kept. They know where to look whenever a politician or corporate leader declares there is "no money" to pay for climate harm and innovation, more and better jobs, a fair post-COVID recovery, or more overseas help."
The Pandora Papers are a follow-up to the "Panama Papers," a similar investigation published by the same journalistic organization in 2016.
The current revelation is considerably bigger, with over three gigabytes of data — around 750,000 images on a smartphone – released from 14 distinct service providers operating in 38 different territories worldwide. The files extend back to the 1970s. However, most of them are from 1996 to 2020.
The Panama Papers, on the other hand, were collected from 2.6 terabytes of data leaked by a now-defunct legal firm called Mossack Fonseca, which was based in the country that gave the initiative its name.
The most recent inquiry investigated accounts registered in well-known offshore havens such as the British Virgin Islands, Seychelles, Hong Kong, and Belize. However, some of the secret accounts were hidden in trusts around the country, including 81 in South Dakota and 37 in Florida.
The initial findings, which were disclosed on Sunday, offered a bleak image of the key figures involved.
For example, from 1995 to 2017, consultants helped Jordan's King Abdullah II establish up at least three dozen shell corporations, allowing him to purchase 14 residences valued at more than US$106 million in the United States and the United Kingdom. One was a US$23 million oceanview property in California purchased in 2017 by a British Virgin Islands firm. An English accountant in Switzerland and lawyers in the British Virgin Islands were named as the advisers.
Jordan's Royal Palace did not respond immediately.
The revelations are an embarrassment for King Abdullah. His government has been dogged by scandal since his half-brother, former crown prince Hamzah, accused the "ruling system" of corruption and ineptitude earlier this year. The King claimed he was the victim of a "malicious plot," imprisoned his half brother, and tried two former close associates.
According to the report, King Abdullah's British lawyers claim that he isn't compelled to pay taxes under Saudi law and hasn't misappropriated public assets. He has offshore interests for security and privacy reasons. Most of the firms and properties are not tied to the King or no longer exist, according to the lawyers, who declined to disclose specifics.
According to the research, Mr. Blair, who served as British Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007, purchased an $8.8 million Victorian building in 2017 by buying a British Virgin Islands corporation that owned it. The building now houses the legal office of his wife, Cherie Blair. The two purchased the company from Zayed bin Rashid al-Zayani, Bahrain's industry, and the tourism minister's family. The Blairs saved more than US$400,000 in property taxes by purchasing company shares rather than the London building, according to the study.
According to the investigation, both the Blairs and the al-Zayanis claimed they were unaware the other party was participating in the trade at the time. Cherie Blair said her husband was not involved in the acquisition, which was made to bring "the company and the building back into the U.K. tax and regulatory regime," according to her. She also stated that she did not wish to own a British Virgin Islands corporation and that the "seller only wanted to sell the company for their own purposes," which is now closed.
The al-Zayanis' counsel claimed that they followed British legislation.
The Pakistani Prime Minister, Mr. Khan, has not been charged with any wrongdoing. According to the journalists' findings, members of his inner circle, including Finance Minister Shaukat Fayaz Ahmed Tarin, are accused of hiding millions of dollars in fortune in secret corporations or trusts.
Mr. Khan promised to reclaim the "ill-gotten gains" in a tweet, adding that his government will investigate all citizens named in the documents and take action if necessary.
According to the probe, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis deposited US$22 million through shell companies in 2009 to purchase a chateau property in Mougins, France, near Cannes. According to records obtained by Investigace.CZ, the journalism group's Czech partner, the shell firms, and the chateau were not reported in Mr. Babis' mandatory asset statements.
According to the investigation, a real estate group owned indirectly by Mr. Babis purchased the Monaco company that held the Château in 2018.
Mr. Babis' initial reaction to the report was, "I was waiting for them to bring something right before the election to harm me and influence the Czech election."
On Friday and Saturday, the Czech Republic will hold parliamentary elections.
Mr. Babis said, "I've never done anything illegal or wrong."
