Panama Papers claim first victim
Iceland PM resigns; Cameron under pressure; Sharif sets up probe commission
reykjavik — Iceland’s embattled prime minister on Tuesday became the first political victim of the socalled Panama Papers after he decided to resign amid the controversy over his offshore holdings.
While governments around the world rushed to deny or contain the fallout from the publication of thousands of names of rich and powerful people who conducted offshore financial activity through a Panamanian law firm, British Prime Minister David Cameron came under pressure to explain his family’s financial affairs after the documents revealed his late father ran an offshore fund which avoided paying tax for 30 years.
“I think the PM... ought to tell us exactly what’s been going on,” said opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, calling for an investigation into the tax affairs.
Iceland’s Agriculture Minister Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson told broadcaster RUV that Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson was stepping down as leader of the country’s coalition government.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced the formation of a commission to investigate allegations made in the Panama Papers that linked his family to a series of offshore companies. —
Reykjavik — Iceland’s prime minister resigned on Tuesday, becoming the first political victim of a mushrooming worldwide scandal over hidden offshore financial dealings exposed in the so-called Panama Papers.
Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson was the biggest casualty of a worldwide media probe into 11.5 million leaked documents that purportedly reveal the offshore financial activities of 140 political figures, including 12 current or former heads of state.
“The prime minister told (his party’s) parliamentary group meeting that he would step down as prime minister and I will take over,” the Progressive Party’s deputy leader Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson told a live broadcast.
A series of other leaders and stars fingered in the leaked papers have hit back at the allegations, denying any wrongdoing despite the international furore.
Those named include Russian President Vladimir Putin’s associates, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s relatives, British Prime Minister David Cameron’s later father and celebrities such as Argentine footballing great Lionel Messi.
Iceland’s leader had been under immense pressure after the papers, leaked from a Panamanian law firm, appeared to show that he and his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir owned an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands and placed millions of dollars there.
Though the prime minister denied ever hiding money abroad, pressure on his government had mounted, with egg-throwing protesters gathering in the streets on Monday and fresh demonstrations planned on Tuesday.
The vast stash of records from Panamanian legal firm Mossack Fonseca was obtained from an anonymous source by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with more than 100 media groups by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
The network of journalists published their first findings on Sunday after a year-long probe.
Offshore financial dealings are not illegal in themselves, though they may be used to hide assets from tax authorities, launder the proceeds of criminal activities or conceal misappropriated or politically inconvenient wealth.
In Beijing, there was no official reaction to ICIJ allegations that eight current or former members of the ruling party’s most powerful body concealed their fortunes through offshore havens, as well as relatives of Xi Jinping, who has overseen a much-publicised anticorruption drive.
Asked whether China would investigate those named in the reports, however, foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said: “For such groundless accusations, I have no comment.”
The Kremlin suggested a US plot after the leaks put a close friend of Putin’s at the top of an offshore empire worth more than $2 billion.
“Putin, Russia, our country, our stability and the upcoming elections are the main target, specifically to destabilise the situation,” said a Kremlin spokesman, claiming many of the journalists were former officers from the US state department, the CIA and special services.
Messi’s family denied any wrongdoing after the footballer and his father were named as owners of a Panama company that had not previously been disclosed during a Spanish probe into their tax affairs.
“The Panama company to which they refer to is a totally inactive company that never had any funds or any open current accounts,” the Messi family said in a statement on Monday.
Australia, France and the Netherlands have announced investigations into revelations contained in the papers. A judicial source said Spain had opened a money-laundering probe into the law firm.
“We need to make sure that not just ordinary citizens pay their taxes but also people who have a lot of money, who earn a lot of money, pay their taxes where they make that money and don’t hide the money,” visiting European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans told reporters Tuesday in the Polish capital Warsaw.
Panama has pledged to identify whether any crimes had been committed and any financial damages should be awarded.
But France’s Finance Minis