The leak, which was recently published, covers no less than 12 million documents obtained by the international journalistic network ICIJ.
Around 35 sitting and former heads of state are mentioned in the leak. The accusations vary from everything from corruption and money laundering to tax evasion.
The ICIJ has found links between nearly 1,000 companies in foreign tax havens and 336 top-level politicians and officials, including a number of government officials, ambassadors and diplomats.
In most countries, investing in assets abroad through so-called straw companies is not directly illegal. Nevertheless, the revelations are embarrassing and create headaches for leaders who have long fronted the fight against corruption in their home countries.
Real estate and tax havens
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not specifically mentioned in the leaks, but he is still linked to, among other things, a property in Monaco, acquired by a Russian woman who allegedly had a child with him.
– IN HARD WEATHER: This weekend there are elections in the Czech Republic. Just over a week before the election, however, it is mostly about Prime Minister Andrej Babis’ various investments and fortunes abroad, information that has appeared in the so-called “Pandora Papers”. Photo: Laszlo Balogh / AP / NTB
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– This is just a bunch of largely unfounded allegations. We have not seen anything about hidden values in Putin’s inner circle, “said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Documents also point to Jordan’s King Abdullah and how he set up a network of foreign companies and tax havens to manage properties from California to London worth around NOK 850 million.
Jordan’s royal house points out that the properties were financed by the king’s personal fortune, and that they were used for official and private visits. The allegations that link the properties to public funds are unfounded, the royal house claims.
– A magnet for the rich and powerful
Another head of state mentioned in the leaks is the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who is facing an important election in his home country this weekend.
According to the documents, he failed to disclose a foreign investment company that was used to buy a mansion in the south of France worth close to 200 million kroner.
– The “Pandora Papers” reveal that the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis bought this manor house in Mougins in the south of France for close to NOK 200 million through so-called shell companies. Babis, however, claims that he has not done anything illegal. Photo: Daniel Cole / AP / NTB
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– I have never done anything illegal or wrong, Babis writes in a post on Twitter, where he claims that the leaks are a campaign intended to influence the Czech election.
More than two-thirds of all the companies covered by the leak were set up in the British Virgin Islands.
Nearly two million of the documents come from the law firm Alcogal in Panama, a company ICIJ says has become “a magnet for the rich and powerful” who want to hide values abroad.
Alcogal, which has both the Jordanian royal family and the Czech prime minister on its client list, has denied all allegations that they are involved in shady businesses.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Kahn’s inner circle is also involved in the leak, and Kahn has promised to “take the necessary action” if illegalities are proven.
In addition, the Colombian singer Shakira and the German supermodel Claudia Schiffer are also mentioned. Their spokespersons say that all investments were of a legal nature.
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