4/4/2016

PanamaPapers:SecretaccountsoftherichandpowerfulWorldDAWN.COM

Panama Papers: Secret

accounts of the rich and
powerful
AFP UPDATED ABOUT 4 HOURS AGO

World leaders, stars of the pitch and screen and dozens of

billionaires were among those named and shamed in what
looks to be the biggest ever leak of inside information in
history.
The leaked data, covering 1977 to the end of last year,
provides what the International Consortium of
Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) described as a "neverbefore-seen view inside the offshore world".
Covering 40 years of emails, financial records and passport
details, the investigation conducted by more than 100
media groups shows how some of the world's most
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powerful people have secreted away their money in

offshore jurisdictions.
The massive leak of documents recalls Wikileaks' exploits
of 2010 which included the release of 500,000 secret
military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and
250,000 diplomatic cables, and infuriated the US.
The vast stash of records was obtained from an anonymous
source by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared
with media worldwide by the ICIJ.
The documents came from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamabased law firm with offices in more than 35 countries.

Panama Papers allegations

Below are some of the main allegations made in Sunday's
release based on documents from Panama-based law firm
Mossack Fonseca:
Banks, companies and aides close to Russian President
Vladimir Putin secretly shuffled as much as $2 billion
using offshore companies, gaining hidden influence in
the country's media and automotive industries. The
Kremlin has accused the ICIJ of launching a misleading
information attack.
Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David
Gunnlaugsson and his wife used an offshore company,
Wintris Inc., to hide millions of dollars of investments
in three major banks during the financial crisis. He has
denied any wrongdoing but faces a vote of no
confidence this week.

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confidence
this week.

Two leaders who have staked their reputations on

pushing for transparency Chinese President Xi
Jinping and British Prime Minister David Cameron
have at some point had family links to offshore
companies.
Several other world leaders, including Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif, the king of Saudi Arabia and the children
of the president of Azerbaijan, also control offshore
companies.
Mossack Fonseca worked with at least 33 people and
companies blacklisted by Washington because of
business links to Mexican drug lords, terrorist
organisations or rogue nations, including North Korea.
One supplied fuel for planes the US alleges Syria's
regime used to bomb its own citizens.
The firm's customers include Ponzi schemers, drug
kingpins, tax evaders and a United States (US)
businessman convicted of travelling to Russia to have
sex with underage orphans, who signed papers for an
offshore company while in jail.
The files also identify a convicted money launderer
who claimed he'd arranged a $50,000 illegal campaign
contribution used to pay the Watergate burglars, 29
billionaires from Forbes' rich list, and martial arts film
star Jackie Chan.
FIFA's ethics committee member Juan Pedro Damiani
had business ties with three men indicted in the
corruption scandal engulfing football's governing body

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corruption scandal engulfing football's governing body

former FIFA vice president Eugenio Figueredo as well
as Hugo Jinkis and his son, who are accused of paying
bribes for broadcast rights in Latin America.
The world's best football player, Lionel Messi, and his
father own a shell company, Mega Star Enterprises,
previously unknown to Spanish investigators probing
the Barcelona forward's tax affairs.
Suspended UEFA chief Michel Platini, who is serving a
six-year ban from football for over a $2 million
payment from FIFA president Sepp Blatter, turned to
Mossack Fonseca to help him administer an offshore
company created in Panama in 2007.
More than 500 banks, their subsidiaries and branches
have worked with Mossack Fonseca since the 1970s to
help clients manage offshore companies. UBS set up
more than 1,100 and HSBC and its affiliates created
more than 2,300.

'Biggest leak in history'

However, in terms of size, "the 'Panama Papers' is likely
the biggest leak of inside information in history,"
according to ICIJ.
"It is equally likely to be one of the most explosive in the
nature of its revelations," the group added.
The documents show that "banks, law firms and other
offshore players often fail to follow legal requirements to
make sure clients are not involved in criminal enterprises,
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make sure clients
are not involved in criminal enterprises,

tax dodging or political corruption", the ICIJ said on its

website.
"The files show that these fixers and middlemen protect
themselves and their clients by concealing suspect
transactions. In some instances, they work to head off
official investigations by backdating and destroying
documents," it added.
"These findings show how deeply ingrained harmful
practices and criminality are in the offshore world," said
Gabriel Zucman, an economist at the University of
California, Berkeley, cited by the consortium.
The leaked documents were reviewed by a team of more
than 370 reporters from over 70 countries, according to the
ICIJ.
It was not immediately clear who was the original source of
the leaked documents.

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