Panama Papers_ Secret Accounts of the Rich and Powerful - World - DAWN

8/17/2019 Panama Papers_ Secret Accounts of the Rich and Powerful - World - DAWN

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4/4/2016 Panama Papers: Secret accounts of the r ich and powerful - World - DAWN.COM

http://www.dawn.com /news/1249899/panam a-papers-secret- accounts-of-the-rich-and-powerful

Panama Papers: Secret accounts of the rich and

powerfulAF P — UPDATED ABOUT 4 HOURS AGO

World leaders, stars of the pitch and screen and dozens of

billionaires were among those named and shamed in what

looks to be the biggest ever leak of inside information in

history.

The leaked data, covering 1977 to the end of last year,

provides what the International Consortium of

Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) described as a "never-

before-seen view inside the offshore world".

Covering 40 years of emails, financial records and passport

details, the investigation conducted by more than 100

media groups shows how some of the world's most

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powerful people have secreted away their money in

offshore jurisdictions.

The massive leak of documents recalls Wikileaks' exploits

of 2010 ─ which included the release of 500,000 secret

military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and250,000 diplomatic cables, and infuriated the US.

The vast stash of records was obtained from an anonymous

source by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared

with media worldwide by the ICIJ.

The documents came from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-

based law firm with offices in more than 35 countries.

Panama Papers allegations

Below are some of the main allegations made in Sunday's

release based on documents from Panama-based law firm

Mossack Fonseca:

Banks, companies and aides close to Russian President

Vladimir Putin secretly shuffled as much as $2 billion

using offshore companies, gaining hidden influence in

the country's media and automotive industries. The

Kremlin has accused the ICIJ of launching a misleading

“information attack”.

Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David

Gunnlaugsson and his wife used an offshore company,

Wintris Inc., to hide millions of dollars of investments

in three major banks during the financial crisis. He has

denied any wrongdoing but faces a vote of no

confidence this week.


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Two leaders who have staked their reputations on

pushing for transparency ─ Chinese President Xi

Jinping and British Prime Minister David Cameron ─

have at some point had family links to offshore

companies.

Several other world leaders, including Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharif, the king of Saudi Arabia and the children

of the president of Azerbaijan, also control offshore

companies.

Mossack Fonseca worked with at least 33 people andcompanies blacklisted by Washington because of

business links to Mexican drug lords, terrorist

organisations or rogue nations, including North Korea.

One supplied fuel for planes the US alleges Syria's

regime used to bomb its own citizens.

The firm's customers include Ponzi schemers, drugkingpins, tax evaders and a United States (US)

businessman convicted of travelling to Russia to have

sex with underage orphans, who signed papers for an

offshore company while in jail.

The files also identify a convicted money launderer

who claimed he'd arranged a $50,000 illegal campaigncontribution used to pay the Watergate burglars, 29

billionaires from Forbes' rich list, and martial arts film

star Jackie Chan.

FIFA's ethics committee member Juan Pedro Damiani

had business ties with three men indicted in the


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corruption scandal engulfing football's governing body

─ former FIFA vice president Eugenio Figueredo as well

as Hugo Jinkis and his son, who are accused of paying

bribes for broadcast rights in Latin America.

The world's best football player, Lionel Messi, and hisfather own a shell company, Mega Star Enterprises,

previously unknown to Spanish investigators probing

the Barcelona forward's tax affairs.

Suspended UEFA chief Michel Platini, who is serving a

six-year ban from football for over a $2 million

payment from FIFA president Sepp Blatter, turned toMossack Fonseca to help him administer an offshore

company created in Panama in 2007.

More than 500 banks, their subsidiaries and branches

have worked with Mossack Fonseca since the 1970s to

help clients manage offshore companies. UBS set up

more than 1,100 and HSBC and its affiliates createdmore than 2,300.

'Biggest leak in history'

However, in terms of size, "the 'Panama Papers' is likely

the biggest leak of inside information in history,"

according to ICIJ.

"It is equally likely to be one of the most explosive in the

nature of its revelations," the group added.

The documents show that "banks, law firms and other

offshore players often fail to follow legal requirements to

make sure clients are not involved in criminal enter rises


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tax dodging or political corruption", the ICIJ said on its

website.

"The files show that these fixers and middlemen protect

themselves and their clients by concealing suspect

transactions. In some instances, they work to head off official investigations by backdating and destroying

documents," it added.

"These findings show how deeply ingrained harmful

practices and criminality are in the offshore world," said

Gabriel Zucman, an economist at the University of

California, Berkeley, cited by the consortium.

The leaked documents were reviewed by a team of more

than 370 reporters from over 70 countries, according to the

ICIJ.

It was not immediately clear who was the original source of

the leaked documents.

‘Panama Papers’reveal Shariffamily’s ‘offshore

holdin s’

Corruption matters FIFA and IAAFscandals warningfor corrupt sports

administrators

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Panama Papers_ Secret Accounts of the Rich and Powerful - World - DAWN