# Pandora Papers ### Report by [[ICIJ]] The #PandoraPapers is the most expansive leak of tax haven files in history and reveals the secret offshore holdings of more than 300 politicians and public officials from more than 90 countries and territories. Here's a look at the Power Players 👉 https://t.co/i58Toe7OEi https://t.co/45wsF9gwDK https://twitter.com/ICIJorg/status/1445026019090571266?s=19 Not surprisingly, a link to #EquatorialGuinea in the #PandoraLeaks https://t.co/sx0LnEZPJg https://t.co/A9vrfapkWp https://twitter.com/TutuAlicante/status/1445055811085086733?s=19 ## About the Pandora Papers https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/about-pandora-papers-investigation/ 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](https://www.icij.org/), 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 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. 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 and terrorism financiers. The reporting shows how the ==United States, in particular, has become an increasingly attractive destination for hidden wealth==, although the U.S. and its Western allies condemn smaller countries for allowing the flow of money and assets tied to corruption and crime. The Pandora Papers include documents from 206 U.S. trusts in 15 states and Washington, D.C., and 22 U.S. trustee companies. The documents provide details about the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars from offshore havens in the Caribbean and Europe into ==[[South Dakota]], a sparsely populated American state that has become a major destination for foreign money.== It shows how little-known corporate service providers have aided the financial maneuvers of people facing criminal investigations or costly civil lawsuits, including an executive of a Belgian chemical company accused of environmental crimes and a Florida accomplice of the Colombo crime family. And it shows how offshore firms are used to conceal the provenance of art and antiquities. The reporting team found that dozens of ancient relics remain on display in prominent museums despite having been linked to a celebrated collector later suspected of smuggling on a grand scale. One notably disheartening line of inquiry involves secret investors in one of the biggest corporate landlords in the U.S. These investors are profiting from evictions carried out in the midst of a global pandemic. And they include trusts holding millions devoted to the Legion of Christ, a Roman Catholic religious order disgraced by an international sex-abuse scandal. - The evictions are rough but I don't see anything illegal there The records, which have connections to more than 30,000 companies,  are in many languages, including English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Greek and Russian. The beneficial owners are tied to 27,000 companies. ![[Screen Shot 2021-10-09 at 3.32.58 AM.png]] 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. ### Pandora Papers: An offshore data tsunami https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/about-pandora-papers-leak-dataset/ ![[Screen Shot 2021-10-09 at 3.46.46 AM.png]] ![[Screen Shot 2021-10-09 at 3.47.00 AM.png]] ## The Power Players https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/power-players/ The trove of more than 11.9 million confidential files shows **how presidents, prime ministers, royals, elected officials — and some of their family members and closest associates — stash assets in a covert financial system** with the help of firms who establish companies in secrecy jurisdictions. **Explore the biggest political names uncovered in the data.** ### Notes - Only one person from mainland [[China]] - there were a couple from [[Hong Kong]] however - Qiya Feng, Delegate, Henan province - https://projects.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/power-players/en/player/qiya-feng ### Secrecy Jurisdictions in the [[Pandora Papers]] Many power players - [[British Virgin Islands]] (42) - [[Panama]] (13) - [[Seychelles]] (5) Few - [[Cyprus]] - [[Bahrain]] - [[Switzerland]] - [[UAE]] - [[US]] - [[Guernsey]] - [[Singapore]] - [[Belize]] - [[Cayman Islands]] ## Selected Articles ### [[Legion of Christ]] (pedophile Catholic org) hid money in offshore trusts https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/legion-of-christ-us-property-evictions-offshore/ [[Legion of Christ]] is "a wealthy Roman Catholic order disgraced by an international pedophilia scandal" "These two trusts would come to hold nearly $300 million in assets devoted to the Legion of Christ, according to leaked records, at a time when victims of sexual abuse by its priests were seeking financial compensation from the order through lawsuits and through a commission overseen by the Vatican." ### Celebrities using the offshore system https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/shakira-sachin-julio-celebrities-use-offshore/ “Celebrities, in particular, are very sensitive about their private lives in many cases, and to some extent, that’s pretty legitimate,” he said. However, he said privacy “is only part of the story” and could in some cases still be a cover for tax avoidance that can only be found by looking at individual tax returns. - [[Shakira]] - [[Claudia Schiffer]] - German supermodel - [[Sachin Tendulkar]] - cricket legend - [[Ringo Starr]] - Beatles drummer - Julio Iglesias - Real Estate Tycoon - The Spanish superstar singer-songwriter, whose net worth is estimated to be $936 million, owns more than 20 companies in the BVI. - Sir Elton John - Business Mogul - The pop icon, whose estimated net worth is more than $530 million, owns more than a dozen BVI-registered companies that receive income from his various business streams. ### [[Douglos Latchford]] trafficked ancient [[Cambodia]]n treasures, which could not be locked down because they were hidden in the Pandora Papers https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/cambodia-relics-looted-temples-museums-offshore/ ### [[Baker McKenzie]] was an enabler https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/baker-mckenzie-global-law-firm-offshore-tax-dodging/ "Jho Low, as an adviser to Najib Razak, then prime minister of Malaysia, made extensive use of Baker McKenzie affiliates. Low is now a fugitive, accused of masterminding the multibillion-dollar looting of a public investment fund and wanted by Malaysia, the United States and Singapore." "Rostec, the Russian arms maker that sold its stake in the Mongolian mine, is among a half-dozen state-controlled Russian companies that have awarded contracts to Baker McKenzie while facing international sanctions." "And [[Apple]], which turned to Baker McKenzie to help it find a tax haven, has become the international poster child for corporate offshore tax avoidance." ### US lawmakers call for crackdown on financial ‘enablers’ after Pandora Papers https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/us-lawmakers-call-for-crackdown-on-financial-enablers-after-pandora-papers/ The proposed legislation, experts say, represents the most significant reform of anti-money laundering rules since 9/11. https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/us-lawmakers-call-for-crackdown-on-financial-enablers-after-pandora-papers/