In nearly 11.9 million papers released from financial services businesses. Thirty-five recent and former world leaders are mentioned, including tales of lavish houses on the French Riviera, in Monte Carlo, and California.
- Found by the International Association of Investigative Journalists recently the so-called ‘Pandora Papers’ released in stories by some renowned global portal.
- Corruption, money laundering, and tax avoidance are all allegations.
- Documents show how heads of state use offshore tax havens to stash assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
- Although it is not illegal in most countries to hold assets offshore or use shell companies. But the findings are embarrassing for governments who have pushed for economic measures or campaigned against corruption.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used offshore companies to buy upmarket properties in London. His office thought it had been a way of protecting himself in contradiction of the ‘aggressive actions’ of his predecessor. While Russian leader Vladimir Putin is linked via associates to secret assets in Monaco.
- King Abdullah II denounced what he called a ‘campaign against Jordan’, a royal court statement quoted him as saying to a group of tribal elders. The country’s royal court mentioned the properties were funded with the king’s wealth and used for official and private visits.
- Ivory Coast’s prime minister’s office has denounced the ‘malicious use’ of information after it came. He had become the owner of a Bahamas-based company. The material, according to his office, dates from the late 1990s, when he was an adviser to Ivory Coast’s energy minister.
- More than a dozen serving heads of state and government, as well as country leaders, cabinet ministers, ambassadors, and others, were among them. The British Virgin Islands were home to more than two-thirds of the businesses.
- In a video ICIJ head, Gerard Ryle stated that individuals in the best position to stop such abuses were the ones who benefited the most. Maira Martini of Transparency International called for an end to the offshore business, claiming that how it “promotes corruption and financial criminality.”
The ‘Pandora Papers’ is the most recent in a series of large-scale leaks handled by the ICIJ, which began with LuxLeaks in 2014 and ended with the Panama Papers in 2016. They were followed in 2017 by the Paradise Papers, and in 2020 by the FinCen files.
