Pandora Papers: Key revelations from leaks exposing illicit dealings of super rich

An expose by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has revealed that hundreds of world leaders, powerful politicians, billionaires, celebrities, religious leaders and drug dealers have been hiding their investments in mansions, exclusive beachfront property, yachts and other assets for the past quarter-century.

The 'Pandora Papers' involved more than 600 journalists who together analyzed some 11.9 million documents from financial services companies around the world.

The consortium found links between almost 1,000 companies in offshore havens and 336 high-level politicians and public officials, including more than a dozen serving heads of state and government.

> In addition to politicians, the public figures linked to offshore assets included the cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, Colombian singer Shakira, the German supermodel Claudia Schiffer. Lawyers for all three told the ICIJ the investments were legitimate and denied any suggestion of tax avoidance.

> On a world map highlighting the number of politicians linked with offshore dealings, India is shown as having six and Pakistan seven.

> The report states that Anil Ambani, the chairman of Reliance ADA Group, and his representatives own at least 18 offshore companies in Jersey, British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Cyprus. Set up between 2007 and 2010, seven of these companies have borrowed and invested at least $1.3 billion.

> The investigation alleged that before fleeing India in January 2018, Nirav Modi had his sister Purvi Modi set up a firm in the British Virgin Islands to act as a corporate protector of a trust formed through the Trident Trust Company, Singapore.

> Members of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's inner circle, including cabinet ministers and their families, are said to secretly own companies and trusts holding millions of dollars. In a series of tweets, Khan vowed to "take appropriate action" if any wrongdoing by Pakistani citizens is established.

> Pakistan's Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, Minister for Water Resources Moonis Elahi, Senator Faisal Vawda, the family of Minister for Industries and Production Khusro Bakhtiar, among others, had links with offshore companies. Some retired army officials, businessmen including Axact's CEO Shoaib Sheikh and media company owners, have also been named in the leaks.

> The former British prime minister Tony Blair, who has been critical of tax loopholes, is shown to have legally avoided paying stamp duty on a multi-million-pound property in London, when he and his wife Cherie bought the offshore company that owned it.

> The files show Jordan's King Abdullah II created a network of offshore companies and tax havens to amass a $100 million property empire between 2003 and 2017, including 15 homes from Malibu, California to Washington and London.

> Family and associates of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev are alleged to have been secretly involved in property deals in Britain worth hundreds of millions, including a roughly $45 million office block in the name of the president's 11-year-old son, Heyder.

> According to the documents, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis failed to declare an offshore investment company used to purchase a chateau worth $22 million in the south of France.

> The investigation says Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta -- who has campaigned against corruption and for financial transparency -- is accused along with six family members to secretly own a network of 11 offshore companies, one of which was valued as holding assets of $30 million.

> While Russian President Vladimir Putin is not directly named in the files, he is linked via associates to secret assets in Monaco -- notably a waterfront home acquired by a Russian woman who is believed to have had a child with Putin, The Washington Post reports. Separately, the documents appear to show that the law firm of President Nicos Anastasiades of Cyprus concealed the identity of the owner of several offshore companies: a former Russian politician accused of embezzlement. The firm denies the accusations, the BBC said.

> According to the findings, just before he was elected as Ukraine's president in 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky transferred his stake in a secret offshore company.