Pandora Papers reveal dirty secrets of celebs
A massive trove of newly released confidential records exposes lucrative tax havens for some of the world’s most rich and powerful figures, from Jordan’s king to former British prime minister Tony Blair and pop singer Shakira – and even Indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar.
Dubbed the Pandora Papers, the records consist of nearly 12 million documents detailing systematic tax dodging by 14 firms that use offshore bank accounts to hide the fortunes and assets of hundreds of wealthy clients.
Alongside associates of politicians
such as Vladimir Putin and Imran Khan, the public figures linked to offshore assets also included the Colombian singer Shakira and the German supermodel Claudia Schiffer.
Lawyers for the stars said the investments were legitimate and denied any suggestion of tax avoidance.
The papers also say the Blairs – Tony and his wife Cherie – bought a $US8.8m building in London in 2017 by buying the British Virgin Islands company that owned it.
As per British law, by doing so they avoided paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes.
The BBC noted there was no indication the Blairs were hiding their wealth.
One of the largest ever global media investigations, the
Pandora Papers scoop involved more than 600 journalists who together analysed some 11.9 million documents from financial services companies around the world.
They found links between almost 1000 companies in offshore havens and 336 highlevel politicians and public officials, including more than a dozen serving heads of state and government.
Some of the key revelations included that Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who has faced angry protests against austerity measures in recent years, created a network of offshore companies and tax havens to amass a $US100m property empire, including 15 homes from Malibu to Washington and London.
The Jordanian embassy in Washington declined to comment, but the BBC cited lawyers for the king saying all the properties were bought with personal wealth.
Members of the inner circle of Pakistan’s Prime Minister and former playboy cricketer Imran Khan, including cabinet ministers and their families, were found to secretly own companies and trusts holding millions of dollars.