Pandora Papers: Data dump outlines how world's rich and powerful hide assets in tax havens

The Pandora Papers include more data and files than both the Panama Papers, leaked in 2016, and the 'Paradise Papers', leaked in 2017

Monaco is just one of the tax havens mentioned in the leak. File Picture: Wikimedia Commons

Several heads of state, high-level politicians, businessmen, billionaires and celebrities have used offshore tax havens to hide assets worth hundreds of millions of euro.

That’s according to a new report from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) which yesterday published “The Pandora Papers” - the biggest ever leak of offshore data.

The papers included some 2.94 terabytes of data - roughly 119.m files - from companies used by wealthy clients in tax havens such as Switzerland, Dubai, Panama, Monaco and the Cayman Islands.

Details of the papers have been shared with prominent media organisations around the world such as the BBC Panorama, The Guardian, Le Monde, and  the Washington Post, each of whom are planning to publish more reports on information contained within them over the coming days and weeks.

More than 600 journalists from 117 different countries, including Ireland, have already spent over 18 months combing through the tranche of data.

The size of the data dump is larger that of the Panama Papers, leaked from the defunct law firm Mossack Fonseca in 2016, and [url=

https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-30812836.html]the Paradise Papers[/url], leaked in 2017. 

NEW: #PandoraPapers reveals the inner workings of a shadow economy that benefits the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of everyone else.

Brought to you by ICIJ and 600+ journalists, the largest collaboration in journalism history. 🧵 https://t.co/qXMuUcqPc4

— ICIJ (@ICIJorg) October 3, 2021

The ICIJ said the Pandora Papers shine a light on the shadowy world of tax havens, and detail how enormous sums of money are moved around and hidden by the rich and powerful in such a way as to avoid taxation and detection by law enforcement agencies.

So far, 35 former and current national leaders, 300 billionaires, 330 high-ranking politicians around the world, have been mentioned in the papers.

King Abdullah II of Jordan and Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's names have both appeared in reports published on the back of the release of the Pandora Papers. File Picture(s): PA

Among the findings so far are:

• Jordan's King Abdullah amassed about $100m worth of property in the United States and the UK through secret companies. They were purchased between 2003 and 2017 via firms registered in tax havens and include properties in Malibu, southern California, and Washington and London.
• According to the BBC, the papers show how former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie did not have to pay £312,000 in stamp duty when buying a £6.45m London townhouse in 2017 by buying the offshore firm that owned the property. Again, the report outlined that the transaction was not illegal.Many of those mentioned in reports published yesterday and today have already issued public statements denying any wrongdoing.
• Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis moved $22m through offshore companies to buy an estate on the French Riviera in 2009 while keeping his ownership of the development a secret. The report did not say the transactions broke the law, however.

• Russian woman Svetlana Krivonogikh became the owner of a Monaco apartment via an offshore company incorporated on the Caribbean island of Tortola in April 2003 just weeks after she gave birth to a girl. At the time, she was in a secret, years-long relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the Washington Post and Russian investigative outlet, Proekt.

• Members of Prime Minister of Pakistan’s Imran Khan's inner circle, including cabinet ministers, have secretly owned companies and trusts holding millions of dollars of hidden wealth.

• The investigation also found Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his family have secretly been involved in British property deals worth more than $542 million.

• The files show how the family bought 17 properties, including a 33 million pound office block in London for the president's 11-year-old son.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensy is also included in reports published thus far, with details emerging of how he transferred his 25% stake in an offshore company to a close friend in the lead up to his election in 2019.

• Kenyan President and six members of his family have been linked to some 13 offshore companies, according to the documents.