The maxi-journalistic investigation uncovered the offshore accounts of powerful and VIPs from all over the world. Among the most famous names, Tony Blair and Claudia Shiffer appear.
Five years after the Panama Papers, a new international journalistic investigation reveals the hidden wealth of celebrities and powerful people from all over the world for a staggering figure that would be between 5.6 thousand and 32 thousand billion dollars. These are the Pandora Papers, a maxi-investigation coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (Icij), published on a network of 150 international newspapers. From the Washington Post to Le Monde, from the BBC to El Pais. For Italy, the weekly l’Espresso took care of it.
The numbers of the Pandora Papers
The numbers of the Pandora Papers are mind-boggling. More than 11.9 million documents were analyzed, 14 companies with offices in tax havens, 29 thousand beneficiaries of hitherto unknown offshore companies. It’s not all. The documents would reveal the secret safes of 46 Russian oligarchs, the offshore companies that clear taxes for 130 multi-billionaires, and the foreign accounts of over 330 politicians from around the world. The investigation lasted almost two years and covered a period of 25 years, from 1996 to 2020. However, the first dossiers concern the 1970s.
Pandora Papers: How the System Worked
The investigation would bring to light a series of tax evasion and money laundering mechanisms that revolve around 14 companies capable of making their customers’ money “disappear” in offshore accounts. These would be international companies with offices located worldwide, from Dubai to Singapore, from the Virgin Islands to Panama City (already overwhelmed in the 2016 investigation). The mechanism would be based on a circuit of branches located in tax havens, which acted as “incubators” for anonymous companies.
Who are the VIPs involved in the Pandora Papers?
As anticipated by L’Espresso, the Pandora Papers would cover, among others, 25 world leaders and 300 politicians from 90 different countries. Among the most famous names to emerge so far, the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Andrej Babis, the Dutch Minister of Economy Wopke Hoekstra, the King of Jordan, and the presidents of Ukraine, Kenya, Chile, Ecuador. Vladimir Putin’s alleged ex-lover Svetlana Krivonogikh also appears. The former housekeeper allegedly bought a 4 million dollar apartment in Munich in 2003. Among the stars of showbiz, Claudia Shiffer, Shakira, Elton John, and Julio Iglesias appear. It’s not all. There are also the names of big names in sport and mafia with their treasurers. The International Monetary Fund said that resorting to tax havens costs governments about $ 600 billion in lost taxes each year.
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