World politicians, including current and former heads of state and government, have hidden millions in offshore firms, according to a study released on Sunday by Pandora Papers, coordinated by an international consortium of investigative journalists.
The study, which involved more than 650 journalists from dozens of media outlets, used 11.9 million documents leaked from 14 financial services companies around the world.
These documents cover the financial transactions of some 35 current and former Heads of State and Government and about 300 other public officials.
The study reveals the connection of Russian President Vladimir Putin with secret assets in Monaco. It also reports that Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babiss has not declared an offshore investment company he has used to buy two villas in the south of France and that King Abdullah of Jordan has secretly bought property in Britain and the United States for about 80 million euros. Family members and associates of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have been involved in real estate deals worth hundreds of millions of euros in Britain, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyat and his family own a network of secret offshore companies, and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Hana’s immediate circle, including government ministers and their families members secretly own companies hiding hundreds of millions of euros, the study said.
An international consortium of investigative journalists points out that in most countries it is not forbidden to own offshore assets, but these findings may be inconvenient for politicians who have publicly urged the fight against corruption or austerity measures.
Over the past seven years, the International Consortium of Research Journalists has conducted similar studies (FinCen Files, Paradise Papers), Panama Papers and LuxLeaks. However, the new study is the largest to date.
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