An extensive investigation by hundreds of journalists is shedding light on the shadowy world of offshore banking, and the elites, including heads of states, who use their positions to their advantage.
The "Pandora's Papers" shows how the world's rich hide their money and assets offshore using a secret network of lawyers and financial institutions.
Up to 11.9 million records leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and, in turn, shared them with media partners such as The Guardian and The Washington Post to help carry out a large-scale investigation.
“These are classified, confidential documents from offshore tax havens and offshore professionals who work to help wealthy, and criminal inpiduals set up shell companies in a way that often helps either hide assets or even, help avoid taxes,” said Will Fitzgibbon, senior ICIJ reporter.
The journalists said they were more than 300 current and former politicians who appeared in the Pandora Papers. They include 14 heads of state, including Dominican President Luis Abenader, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who refused the allegations, ahead of the elections, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Washington Post also hinted that a woman suspected of having a long relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin became the owner of an expensive apartment in Monaco, days after the birth of his child.
The Papers show the explosive growth of offshore banking in the United States, especially in South Dakota and Nevada states that have adopted financial secrecy laws.
The documents show that foreign leaders and their family members used trust funds located in the United States to deposit personal wealth, however, many of the country's richest citizens, such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla founder Elon Musk, do not appear in Pandora's Papers.
The Pandora Papers collected information on more than 27,000 companies and 29,000 so-called ultimate beneficial owners of 11 service providers were identified in the Panama Papers.
More than twice the number of politicians and officials, who appeared in the Panama Papers, appeared in the Pandora Papers. The Papers featured more than 330 politicians and government officials, from more than 90 countries and territories, including 35 current and former heads of state.
More than 30% of the companies that received services from Demetriades LLC or DadLaw, a provider headquartered in Cyprus, had one or more Russians as beneficial owners. While more than 40% of the companies that received services from the Seychelles-based Alpha Consulting Group also had one or more Russian companies as beneficial owners.
Alcogal and Fidelity Corporate Services Limited were also among the suppliers with the largest number of Russian customers.
On the other hand, a large proportion of the beneficial owners that appear in the data are from Latin America. More than 90 of the 330 politicians and government officials in the papers are from Latin America.
Royal Hashemite Court: King Abdullah II of Jordan
The Royal Hashemite Court has released a statement saying that it has been following recently published media reports on properties owned by His Majesty King Abdullah II abroad, which included inaccuracies and distorted and exaggerated facts.
"It is no secret that His Majesty owns a number of apartments and residences in the United States and the United Kingdom. This is not unusual nor improper. His Majesty uses these properties during official visits and hosts officials and foreign dignitaries there."
"The King and his family members also stay in some of these properties during private visits. As such, the details pertaining to these properties are made available to the concerned parties when planning both official and private visits and coordinating on security matters."
The statement added that such properties are not publicised out of security and privacy concerns, and not out of secrecy or an attempt to hide them, as these reports have claimed, adding that measures to maintain privacy are crucial for a head of state of His Majesty’s position.
https://twitter.com/ICIJorg/status/1444703213349969929?s=20
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