Offshore havens and hidden riches of world leaders and billionaires exposed in massive Pandora leaks
Hundreds of current and former world leaders, politicians billionaires, celebrities, and government officials have stashed billions of dollars in secret offshore accounts, according to an investigation conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
More than 330 current and former politicians identified as beneficiaries of the secret accounts include Jordan’s King Abdullah II, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Lebanon Prime Minister Miakti, Czech Republic Prime Minister Andrej Babis, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso, and government members in Pakistan and Russia.
Since Tony Blair left office, he and his wife have bought more than 38 UK properties worth nearly $50 million. In 2017, Blair and his wife, Cherie, became the owners of an $8.8 million Victorian building by acquiring the British Virgin Islands company that held the property.
The Pandora Papers revealed that an English accountant in Switzerland worked with lawyers in the British Virgin Islands to help Jordan’s King Abdullah II, secretly purchase 14 luxury homes, worth more than $106 million, in the U.S. and the U.K. The advisers also helped him set up at least 36 shell companies from 1995 to 2017. In 2017, the king bought a $23 million property overlooking a California surfing beach through a company in the BVI.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh are among several Lebanese political and financial officials named in the Pandora Papers with wealth hidden in offshore tax-havens. Mikati, the recently reappointed billionaire prime minister of Lebanon, owns a Panama-based offshore company which he used to buy property in Monaco worth $10m.
Colombian singer Shakira and former cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar from India are just some of the other names linked to offshore assets.
Shakira’s lawyer said her offshore accounts were declared and that they did not provide any tax advantages. Tendulkar’s attorney said the cricket player’s investment is legitimate and has been declared to tax authorities.
Rhe ICIJ analysis of the secret documents identified 956 companies in offshore havens tied to 336 high-level politicians and public officials, including country leaders, cabinet ministers, ambassadors and others. More than two-thirds of those companies were set up in the British Virgin Islands.
The Pandora Papers are a follow to a similar project released in 2016 called the “Panama Papers” also compiled by ICIJ.