What Is Pandora Paper?
- The Pandora Papers: A Global Network of Investigative Journalist and Media Partners
- Secrets of offshore companies: a new look at tax haven and human rights abuse
- A Search for Tax-Free Organizations in Low and No Income States
- The ICIJ leaks of financial documents and the resignation for Iceland
- Hidden Wealth, Tax Avoidance and Money-Laundering
- Latin American beneficial owners
- Introducing an offshore company registration
- The Pandora Papers: A Case Study in Multilevel Trust Structure for Estate Planning
- The Number of Documents in the Universe
- Shell firms and their real ownership
- The Hidden Wealth of the World's Leader, Politiker and Billionaire
- Hidden Assets: A Way to Hide Profit
- What do the 2020 financial documents have in common?
The Pandora Papers: A Global Network of Investigative Journalist and Media Partners
The documents in the Pandora Papers come from 14 offshore financial service providers. Most of the leaked papers do not show inappropriate or illegal behavior, but are legal in and of themselves. Some of the papers implicate some individuals in unethical or illegal activities.
In many countries, offshore accounts or ownership in foreign corporations are not unethical. Not declaring those holdings and using them to hide business dealings are also. The ICIJ is a global network of investigative journalists and more than 100 media partners who have been known to release reports with high-level leaks and data dumps such as the Panama Papers in 2016 which earned the group the Pulitzer Prize.
Secrets of offshore companies: a new look at tax haven and human rights abuse
The documents were created between 1996 and 2020. They have information more than 29,000 beneficial owners. Five years ago, there were only a few owners found in the Panama Papers investigation, which was based on a leak from a single law firm.
The offshore company's secrecy can give cover to money flows, enabling bribe-taking, tax evasion, terrorism financing, and human rights abuses, experts say. The international soccer scandal known as "FIFAGate" and the alleged looting of Venezuela's public assets are just some of the revelations contained in the Pandora Papers. Poor nations are disproportionately harmed by the tax havens that hold wealth, which starves them of funds to pay for roads, schools and hospitals.
The investigation shows that international leaders have moved money and assets beyond the reach of tax and law enforcement authorities as their citizens struggle. It shows how offshore firms are used to hide art and antiquities. The team found that many ancient relics are still on display in museums despite being linked to a collector who is suspected of being involved in a large scale antiquities scam.
A Search for Tax-Free Organizations in Low and No Income States
The investigation is based on a leak of confidential records of 14 offshore service providers that give professional services to wealthy individuals and corporations who want to incorporate shell companies, trusts, foundations and other entities in low- or no-tax jurisdictions. The entities allow owners to hide their identities from the public. Providers often help them open bank accounts in countries with less regulation.
Most of the files reviewed by ICIJ were created in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They cover a wide range of matters, from the creation of shell companies, foundations and trusts, to the use of such entities to purchase real estate, jets, and life insurance, to the avoidance of inheritance issues. Money laundered is one of the financial crimes that are tied to some documents.
The ICIJ leaks of financial documents and the resignation for Iceland
The ICIJ leaks of financial documents, from the 2016 Panama Papers to the latest, the Pandora Papers, have caused the resignation of the prime minister of Iceland paved the way for the leader of Pakistan to be ousted.
Hidden Wealth, Tax Avoidance and Money-Laundering
The leak of almost 12 million documents, known as the "pandora papers," reveals hidden wealth, tax avoidance and money-laundering by some of the world's rich and powerful. People can legally avoid paying taxes by moving their money or setting up companies in tax havens, but it is often seen as unethical. The UK government says tax avoidance is not in line with the spirit of the law.
It is not illegal to have offshore assets, but using a network of secret companies to move money and assets is a great way to hide the proceeds of crime. It is not certain, but estimates ranged from $5.6 trillion to $32 trillion. The International Monetary Fund says that the use of tax havens costs governments $600 billion in lost taxes each year.
Latin American beneficial owners
Latin America has a large proportion of beneficial owners. Latin America is home to more than 90 politicians and public officials in the data. Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela have the largest representation of beneficial owners.
The largest group of Latin American clients are from Panama. Americans were among the top 20 nationalities represented in the data, as well as 700 companies with beneficial owners connected to the U.S. Russia, the United Kingdom, Argentina, China and Brazil are some of the countries with the largest representation of beneficial owners.
Introducing an offshore company registration
The UK government says it will introduce a register offshore companies owning UK property when parliamentary time allows, in order to crack down on money laundered through offshore companies.
The Pandora Papers: A Case Study in Multilevel Trust Structure for Estate Planning
The name of the investigation is The Pandora Papers, it is based on a massive leak of confidential documents from 14 law firms dedicated to building companies in countries. The documents and emails in the trove are written in a number of languages. The rich, famous, and notorious established complex multilevel trust structures for estate planning that are not regulated for tax purposes, but are characterized by air-tight privacy laws.
The Number of Documents in the Universe
The total number of documents is over 9 million. The majority of documents were written in the year 1996. The 14 companies and offshore trust registration and management service providers that were leaking new documents to ICIJ are all in the same boat.
There are over 11 million documents. Some documents date back to 1971 while the majority of documents are from 1996 to 2020. The most recent was in the year 2018?
Shell firms and their real ownership
Records showing real ownership of shell firms are included. The collection contains over 6 million papers and over 1.2 million emails.
The Hidden Wealth of the World's Leader, Politiker and Billionaire
The leaked papers and files of the world's leaders, politicians, and billionaires reveal their hidden wealth and transactions. The data was collected by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in Washington, DC, and has resulted in one of the most comprehensive worldwide investigations ever conducted. The secret wealth of some of the world's most prominent people was investigated by over 600 journalists.
Hidden Assets: A Way to Hide Profit
Even if having offshore assets is not illegal, the use of secret companies to move money and assets around is ideal for hiding the proceeds of criminal activity.
What do the 2020 financial documents have in common?
The failure of major global banks to stop money laundering was exposed in September 2020. They also showed how the UK is a weak link in the financial system and how London is awash with Russian cash. There are many names in the documents that are accused of massive fraud, sex crimes and child abuse, VAT scam, card-skimming, narco-trafficking, official and sports corruption, sanctions-busting, arms dealing and even murder. Many of you wanted to know more about the documents, whether you can see them and what impact they may have around the world, so we thank you for your questions.
X Cancel
