Pandora Papers: Secret wealth and dealings of world leaders exposed
The secret wealth and dealings of world leaders, politicians
and billionaires has been exposed in one of the biggest leaks of financial
documents.
Some 35 current and former leaders and more than 300 public
officials are featured in the files from offshore companies, dubbed the Pandora
Papers.
They reveal the King of Jordan secretly amassed £70m of UK
and US property.
They also show how ex-UK PM Tony Blair and his wife saved
£312,000 in stamp duty when they bought a London office.
The couple bought an offshore firm that owned the building.
The leak also links Russian President Vladimir Putin to
secret assets in Monaco, and shows the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis -
facing an election later this week - failed to declare an offshore investment
company used to purchase two villas for £12m in the south of France.
It is the latest in a string of leaks over the past seven
years, following the FinCen Files, the Paradise Papers, the Panama Papers and
LuxLeaks.
The examination of the files is the largest organised by the
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), with more than
650 reporters taking part.
BBC Panorama in a joint investigation with the Guardian and
the other media partners have had access to nearly 12 million documents and
files from 14 financial services companies in countries including the British
Virgin Islands, Panama, Belize, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and
Switzerland.
Some figures are facing allegations of corruption, money
laundering and global tax avoidance.
But one of the biggest revelations is how prominent and
wealthy people have been legally setting up companies to secretly buy property
in the UK.
The documents reveal the owners of some of the 95,000 offshore
firms behind the purchases.
It highlights the UK government's failure to introduce a
register of offshore property owners despite repeated promises to do so, amid
concerns some property buyers could be hiding money-laundering activities.
The Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his family, who
have been accused of looting their own country, are one example.
The investigation found the Aliyevs and their close
associates have secretly been involved in property deals in the UK worth more
than £400m.
The revelations could prove embarrassing for the UK
government, as the Aliyevs appear to have made a £31m profit after selling one
of their London properties to the Crown Estate - the Queen's property empire
that is managed by The Treasury and raises cash for the nation.
Many of the transactions in the documents involve no legal
wrongdoing.
But Fergus Shiel, from the ICIJ, said: "There's never
been anything on this scale and it shows the reality of what offshore companies
can offer to help people hide dodgy cash or avoid tax."
He added: "They are using those offshore accounts,
those offshore trusts, to buy hundreds of millions of dollars of property in
other countries, and to enrich their own families, at the expense of their
citizens."
The ICIJ believes the investigation is "opening a box
on a lot of things" - hence the name Pandora Papers.
The leaked financial documents show how the King of Jordan
secretly amassed a property empire in the UK and US worth more than £70m (over
$100m).
They identify a network of offshore companies in the British
Virgin Islands and other tax havens used by Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein to buy
15 homes since he assumed power in 1999.
They include £50m on three adjacent ocean view properties in
Malibu, California, and properties in London and Ascot in the UK.
His property interests have been built up as King Abdullah
has been accused of presiding over an authoritarian regime, with protests
taking place in recent years amid austerity measures and tax rises.
Lawyers for King Abdullah said all the properties were
bought with personal wealth, which he also uses to fund projects for Jordan's
citizens.
They said it was common practice for high profile
individuals to purchase properties via offshore companies for privacy and
security reasons.
Among the other revelations in the Pandora Papers:
Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta and six members of his family
secretly owned a network of offshore companies. They have been linked to 11
firms - one of which was valued as holding assets of $30m
Members of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's inner
circle, including cabinet ministers and their families, secretly own companies
and trusts holding millions of dollars
The law firm founded by President Nicos Anastasiades of
Cyprus appears to have provided fake owners to disguise the real owner of a
series of offshore companies - a former Russian politician who had been accused
of embezzlement. However, the law firm denies this
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky transferred his stake
in a secret offshore company just before he won the 2019 election
Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso, a former banker, replaced
a Panamanian foundation that made monthly p There is no suggestion in the
Pandora Papers that Tony and Cherie Blair were hiding their wealth.
But documents show why stamp duty was not payable when the
couple bought a £6.45m property.
The former Labour prime minister and his barrister wife
Cherie acquired the building in Marylebone, central London, in July 2017 by
buying the offshore company that owned it.
It is legal to acquire properties in the UK in this way and
stamp duty does not have to be paid - but Mr Blair has previously been critical
of tax loopholes.
The townhouse in Marylebone, central London, is now home to
Mrs Blair's legal consultancy, which advises governments around the world, as
well as her foundation for women.
Mrs Blair said the sellers had insisted they buy the house
through the offshore company.
She said they had brought the property back under UK rules
and will be liable to pay capital gains tax if they sell it in future.
The ultimate owners of the property were a family with
political connections in Bahrain - but both parties say they did not initially
know who they were dealing with.ayments to his close family members with a
trust based in South Dakota in the US.
Other documents show how Azerbeijan's ruling Aliyev family
have secretly acquired UK property using offshore companies.
The files show how the family - long accused of corruption
in the central Asian nation - bought 17 properties, including a £33m office
block in London for the president's 11-year-old son Heyder Aliyev.
The building in Mayfair was bought by a front company owned
by a family friend of President Ilham in 2009.
It was transferred one month later to Hedyer.
The research also reveals how another office block owned by
the family nearby was sold to the Crown Estate for £66m in 2018.
The Crown Estate said it carried out the checks required in
law at the time of purchase but is now looking into the matter.
The UK government says it is cracking down on money
laundering with tougher laws and enforcement, and that it will introduce a
register of offshore companies owning UK property when parliamentary time
allows.
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