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Hundreds of politicians are said to have used financial services providers for years to hide their assets and valuables.
Berlin – An international consortium of investigative journalists has once again leaked explosive documents about the financial conduct of hundreds of politicians and other celebrities from all over the world. Reported on Sunday evening Southgerman newspaper, NDR and WDR, which reportedly contributed to the analysis of the data leak.
Pandora Papers: Biggest data leak to date on business with tax havens uncovered
According to this, 35 current and former heads of state as well as more than 330 politicians and officials from almost 100 countries have invested assets “with the help of opaque trusts, foundations and letterbox companies”. The more than 11.9 million documents are called “Pandora Papers”.
They were reportedly leaked to the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) from an anonymous source. The secret documents of 14 financial service providers operating in tax havens will reach until 2021, as it was said. The “Pandora Papers” are the biggest data leak to date on business in tax havens. The confidential documents also include the names of prominent top athletes and company directors.
Pandora Papers: Babis, Selenskyi and Putin confidants apparently involved in offshore business
The current Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis is said to have bought a country castle in southern France for more than 15 million euros in this way, largely anonymously. For him, the timing of the publication is particularly sensitive because a new parliament will be elected in the Czech Republic next week.
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj, numerous confidants of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and many celebrities are customers of offshore companies. The President of the EU country Cyprus, Nikos Anastasiadis, was therefore actively involved in the offshore business with his law firm, which is now run by his daughters.
According to the information, around 600 journalists from 150 media organizations in 117 countries were involved in the “Pandora Paper” research. The results of the research were published worldwide from Sunday evening. According to the ICIJ, 11.9 million leaked documents “covering every corner of the world” have been evaluated. (dpa / afp)
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