by Fergus Shiel
 October 03, 2021
from ICIJ Wesbite

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ICIJ's

largest-ever investigation

on the offshore world

unlocks financial secrets

of politicians, billionaires

and the global elite...
 

 


The Pandora Papers investigation lays bare the global entanglement of political power and secretive offshore finance.

Based upon the most expansive leak of tax haven files in history, the investigation reveals the secret deals and hidden assets of more than 330 politicians and high-level public officials in more than 90 countries and territories, including 35 country leaders.

 

Ambassadors, mayors and ministers, presidential advisers, generals and a central bank governor appear in the files.

 

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a nonprofit newsroom and network of journalists centered in Washington, D.C., obtained more than 11.9 million financial records, containing 2.94 terabytes of confidential information from 14 offshore service providers, enterprises that set up and manage shell companies and trusts in tax havens around the globe.

 

The files reveal secret offshore holdings of more than 130 billionaires from 45 countries including 46 Russian oligarchs.

 

In 2021, according to Forbes, 100 of the billionaires had a collective fortune of more than $600 billion. Other clients include bankers, big political donors,  arms dealers, international criminals, pop stars, spy chiefs and sporting giants.

 

ICIJ shared the files with 150 media partners, launching the broadest collaboration in journalism history.

 

For nearly two years, ICIJ organized and led an investigation that grew to encompass more than 600 journalists in 117 countries and territories.

 

Reporters followed leads to a cliffside mansion in California, a sugar plantation in the Dominican Republic, a polluting factory in Italy, high-rise towers in Dubai and a Turkish hospital where workers alleged mistreatment.

 

The documents span five decades, with most created between 1996 and 2020.

 

They include information on more than 29,000 beneficial owners, the ultimate owners of offshore assets. That is more than twice the number of owners found five years ago in the Panama Papers investigation, which was based on a leak from a single law firm.

 

While owning an offshore company is legal, the secrecy it provides can give cover to illicit money flows, enabling bribery, money laundering, tax evasion, terrorism financing and human trafficking and other human rights abuses, experts say.

 

The Pandora Papers offer fresh insights into international corruption scandals, including the far-reaching bribery operation of Brazilian contracting giant Odebrecht S.A., the international soccer scandal known as FIFAGate and the alleged looting of Venezuelan public assets.

 

Poor nations are disproportionately harmed by the stashing of wealth in tax havens, which starves treasuries of funds to pay for roads, schools and hospitals.

 

The Pandora Papers probe reveals that international leaders who could tackle offshore tax avoidance have themselves secretly moved money and assets beyond the reach of tax and law enforcement authorities as their citizens struggle.

 

Current and former leaders who have owned secret companies and trusts, as revealed by the Pandora Papers investigation, include,

King Abdullah II of Jordan, the prime ministers of Côte d'Ivoire and the Czech Republic, the presidents of Ecuador, Kenya and Gabon and the former presidents of El Salvador, Panama, Paraguay and Honduras...

The files also shed light on the financial dealings of,

  • Chavistas in Venezuela

  • fugitive cult leaders and their followers

  • kleptocrats and their families

  • neo-Nazis

  • a mineral water dealer convicted of soliciting the murders of a judge and a prosecutor

  • a fugitive millionaire pedophile

  • terrorism financiers...

Other players in the Pandora Papers' global cast include a Bitcoin czar sentenced for money laundering in connection with the largest cyberheist in history.

 

And offshore investments were linked to,

  • Bollywood actors

  • soccer stars

  • corrupt sports' officials

  • a king's lover

  • feuding princesses

  • movie directors and stars

  • supermodels

  • acclaimed designers

  • world-famous singers...

We call the project Pandora Papers because this collaboration builds upon the legacy of the Panama and Paradise Papers, and the ancient myth of Pandora's Box still evokes an outpouring of trouble and woe.

 

For nearly two years, ICIJ organized and led an investigation that grew to encompass more than 600 journalists in 117 countries and territories.

 

Reporters followed leads to a cliffside mansion in California, a sugar plantation in the Dominican Republic, a polluting factory in Italy, high-rise towers in Dubai and a Turkish hospital where workers alleged mistreatment.

 

The documents span five decades, with most created between 1996 and 2020. They include information on more than 29,000 beneficial owners, the ultimate owners of offshore assets.

 

That is more than twice the number of owners found five years ago in the Panama Papers investigation, which was based on a leak from a single law firm.

 

While owning an offshore company is legal, the secrecy it provides can give cover to illicit money flows, enabling bribery, money laundering, tax evasion, terrorism financing and human trafficking and other human rights abuses, experts say.

 

The Pandora Papers offer fresh insights into international corruption scandals, including,

  • the far-reaching bribery operation of Brazilian contracting giant Odebrecht S.A.

  • the international soccer scandal known as FIFAGate

  • the alleged looting of Venezuelan public assets

Poor nations are disproportionately harmed by the stashing of wealth in tax havens, which starves treasuries of funds to pay for roads, schools and hospitals.

 

The Pandora Papers probe reveals that international leaders who could tackle offshore tax avoidance have themselves secretly moved money and assets beyond the reach of tax and law enforcement authorities as their citizens struggle.

 

Current and former leaders who have owned secret companies and trusts, as revealed by the Pandora Papers investigation, include,

  • King Abdullah II of Jordan

  • the prime ministers of Côte d'Ivoire and the Czech Republic

  • the presidents of Ecuador, Kenya and Gabon

  • the former presidents of El Salvador, Panama, Paraguay and Honduras...

 

 

 

They reveal details of international energy, technology and property holdings and deals, as well as complex inheritance arrangements.

 

The reporting  team scoured and disentangled labyrinthine ownership networks behind countless companies, foundations and trusts.

 

The documents were shared in a secure database built by ICIJ called Datashare and findings through a secure platform called the Global iHub.

 

ICIJ's publication of Pandora Papers stories comes at a critical moment in a global debate over the fairness of the international tax system, the role of Western professionals in the shadow economy and the failure of governments to stanch the flow of dirty money into hidden companies and trusts.

 

The Pandora Papers are expected to yield new revelations for years to come.

 

 

 

 


 

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

 

 

 

Pandora Papers media partners: