“Pandora Papers”: several leaders and celebrities questioned for tax evasion – LCI

“Pandora Papers”, in reference to the Pandora’s Box, is the name of the new survey released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on Sunday (October 3rd). This network, made up of investigative journalists in more than 100 countries, has just implicated leaders – including Tony Blair or the King of Jordan – and celebrities around the world for tax evasion.

This new investigation follows the “Panama Papers”, which caused a shock wave in 2016. This time around 600 journalists from around the world took part in this extraordinary investigation which is based on 11.9 million documents from 14 financial services companies, and which has just revealed the existence of more than 29,000 offshore companies.

According to the documents of the “Pandora Papers”, several leaders, including the Czech Prime Minister, the King of Jordan or the presidents of Kenya and Ecuador, concealed assets in offshore companies, in particular for purposes of tax evasion. In total, the ICIJ has established links between offshore assets and 336 prominent leaders or politicians. They have created nearly 1,000 companies, more than two-thirds of which are in the British Virgin Islands.

According to the new survey, King Abdullah II of Jordan has created at least thirty offshore companies, that is to say in countries or territories with favorable taxation. Through these entities, he bought 14 luxury properties in the US and UK, for more than $ 106 million.

As for the Czech Prime Minister, Andrej Babis, he placed 22 million dollars in front companies which were used to finance the purchase of the Bigaud castle, a large property located in Mougins, in the south of France. From his Twitter account, he said: “I have never done anything illegal or wrong (…) but that does not prevent them from trying to denigrate me and influence the Czech parliamentary elections”, scheduled for Friday 8 and Saturday 9 October.

According to the ICIJ, Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso has placed funds in two trusts headquartered in the United States, in South Dakota.

In most countries, these facts cannot be prosecuted. But in the case of leaders, the ICIJ parallels the anti-corruption discourse held by some of them with their investments in tax havens.

As in Kenya for example, where Uhuru Kenyatta, the president, who has repeatedly affirmed his determination to fight corruption in his country and to oblige Kenyan officials to be transparent about their heritage, would have a foundation in Panama. The investigation also reveals that several members of his direct family have more than $ 30 million placed in offshore accounts.

The ICIJ also reveals that relatives of Imran Khan, elected head of Pakistan in 2018 on an anti-corruption program, after the dismissal of Nawaz Sharif, swept away by the “Panama Papers” revelations, have millions of dollars in offshore accounts. On Twitter, the Prime Minister assured that he “investigate” on all Pakistani citizens mentioned in the “Pandora Papers”.

With the publication of the “Pandora Papers”, the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is also implicated because of the purchase of real estate in London through a company abroad.

According to documents reviewed by the ICIJ, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), channeled several million dollars in consulting fees to companies through a tax-exempt Moroccan company .

Celebrities such as singer Shakira, model Claudia Shiffer and Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar are also singled out by this new survey. According to their agents, this is not about tax evasion, reports the ICIJ.

Finally, Raffaele Amato, the mafia boss who inspired the film Gomorrah, also used a shell company to buy land in Spain. Linked to numerous murders, he is serving a 20-year prison sentence.