UK urged to tighten defences against ‘dirty money’ after data leak details secret financial dealings of the rich and powerful
The UK Government is facing fresh calls to tighten Britain’s defences against “dirty money” after a leak of offshore data exposed the secret financial dealings of some of the world’s richest and most powerful people.
–The cache of almost 12 million files – dubbed the Pandora papers - is said to cover the activities of some 35 current or former world leaders, more than 300 public officials and 100 billionaires.
According to BBC Panorama, which conducted a joint investigation with The Guardian, among the disclosures in the papers are details of the way prominent and wealthy people have been legally setting up companies to secretly buy property in the UK.
Following the release, the Crown Estate said that it was looking into the £67 million purchase of a London property from a company which, The Guardian said, acted as a "front" for family of Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev whose record has long been criticised by anti-corruption campaigners.
A spokesman for the Crown Estate said: "Before our purchase of 56-60 Conduit Street, we conducted checks including those required by UK law.
"At the time we did not establish any reason why the transaction should not proceed. Given the potential concerns raised, we are looking into the matter."
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie, angrily denied any wrongdoing after the Guardian and Panorama said they were able to save more than £300,000 in stamp duty when they acquired a £6.45 million London property by buying the offshore company which owned it.
A spokeswoman for the couple said they had bought the property in "a normal way through reputable agents" and should not have been "dragged into a story about 'hidden' secrets of prime ministers etc". The disclosures are reported to be based on the leak of files from14financialservicescompanies in countries including the British Virgin Islands, Panama, Belize, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Switzerland.
The files were passed to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in Washington which then shared access to the data with media organisations.