The “Pandora Papers” are said to be the biggest data leak to date on business in tax havens.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin An international consortium of investigative journalists has once again leaked explosive documents about the financial conduct of hundreds of politicians and other celebrities from around the world. This was reported on Sunday evening by the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, NDR and WDR, which, according to their own information, have contributed to the analysis of the data leak.
According to this, 35 current and former heads of state as well as more than 330 politicians and officials from almost 100 countries have invested assets “with the help of opaque trusts, foundations and letterbox companies”. The more than 11.9 million documents are called “Pandora Papers”.
They were reportedly leaked to the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) from an anonymous source. The secret documents of 14 financial service providers operating in tax havens will reach until 2021, as it was said. The “Pandora Papers” are the biggest data leak to date on business in tax havens. The confidential documents also include the names of prominent top athletes and company directors.
Journalists from 150 media organizations in 117 countries were reportedly involved in the “Pandora Paper” research. The partner media included the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Indian Express, Le Monde and Aftenposten. The results of the research were published worldwide from Sunday evening, it was said.
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Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis is one of the politicians mentioned in the documents. The allegations hit him a few days before the parliamentary elections in the EU member state on October 8th and 9th. According to the research consortium, Babis is said to have bought an estate in France for 15 million euros in a non-transparent manner.
The purchase price flowed “via mailbox companies in Washington, Monaco and the British Virgin Islands to France”, according to the online edition of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. The case dates back to 2009 and thus to the time before the multi-billionaire entered politics.
Five years after the Panama Papers
The head of government rejected the allegations: It was clear that he had done nothing illegal or bad, Babis told the CTK news agency on Sunday evening. He spoke of an attempt to “pollute him and thus influence the Czech parliamentary elections”.
In the past, Babis had often portrayed himself as an anti-corruption fighter. According to a new poll on behalf of the broadcaster CNN Prima News, the populist ANO von Babis would be by far the strongest force in the upcoming parliamentary election with 27.3 percent of the vote.
About five and a half years ago, the research network caused a stir with the publication of the “Panama Papers”. These were documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which were evaluated by journalists around the world. They found that numerous politicians, athletes and other celebrities held assets in offshore companies.
The revelations put politicians, business people and celebrities under pressure. The Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lost his position on charges of corruption. In Malta there were new elections in June 2017 because of the “Panama Papers”, in Iceland the publication led to the resignation of Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson.
The mountain of data leaked to the international media showed large flows of money to Panama, where thousands of letterbox companies are located. Prosecutors around the world checked whether this was also a criminal offense. The 11.5 million files included e-mails, documents and account statements for 214,000 companies, primarily in the Caribbean. The names of 140 politicians or politicians confidants appeared.
More: How the tax authorities find out about tax evaders