Pandora Papers: Secret assets and deals of many world leaders exposed

The assets and secret deals of world leaders and billionaires have been exposed in one of the biggest leaks of financial documents.

This leak has been named the Pandora Papers. More than 35 current and former politicians and more than 300 government officials have been named in the leaks, who have invested money in offshore companies and through them created assets around the world.

It has been revealed in the leak that the Shah of Jordan secretly bought property worth 70 million pounds in Britain and America.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife did not pay stamp duty when they bought their office in London and saved 3 lakh 12 thousand pounds. The Blair couple had bought an offshore company and the office is owned by the same company.

The leak also revealed links to Russian President Vladimir Putin's assets located in Monaco.

In the Czech Republic, where elections are due later this week, Prime Minister Andre Babies has been leaked about the purchase of two villas in southern France through two offshore companies.

The Pandora Papers leak is a new addition to the list of financial documents leaked over the past seven years, after the FinCEN Files, the Paradise Papers, the Panama Papers, and LuxLeaks, which leaked 12 million documents and claimed ownership of 29,000 offshore companies and trusts. Details have surfaced.

This is the largest investigation conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), in which 650 investigative journalists from around the world have participated.

BBC Panorama, in collaboration with the British newspaper The Guardian and other media organizations, has accessed 12 million documents. These documents have been leaked from 14 financial service companies in countries like the British Virgin Islands, Panama, Belize, Cyprus, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Switzerland.

Some of the people whose names have surfaced in this leak are already facing charges like money laundering and tax scams.

But the biggest information has come to the fore about how rich and powerful people are legally forming companies and buying properties in Britain and abroad.

According to the documents, 95,000 offshore foreign companies are behind these purchases.

Foreign leaders buying property in Britain

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and his family are accused of looting their own country. It has come to the fore in this investigation that he and his close people are secretly involved in the purchase of property worth 400 million pounds in Britain.

This information could also be embarrassing for the British government, as Aliyev made a profit of 31 million pounds by selling one of his London properties to the Crown Estate - the Crown State is the property of the Queen, which is overseen by the Treasury Department. To earn.

There are many such transactions in these documents that do not involve any legal error.

ICIJ's Fergus Scheel says, "Nothing has happened on such a large scale before and it brings to the fore the reality of how large offshore foreign companies can become a means for people to hide black money and save taxes."

"These people are using these foreign accounts, foreign trusts to buy a property worth millions of dollars in other countries and are using the money of ordinary citizens to make their families prosperous."

The ICIJ believes that through this investigation it is "uncovering many big things." That is why it has been named the 'Pandora Papers'.

King of Jordan's big house in Malibu

Leaked financial documents reveal how the King of Jordan has secretly amassed wealth worth over £70 million in Britain and the US.

Abdullah II bin al-Hussein has purchased 15 homes in the British Virgin Islands since 1999 using a group of offshore companies and companies elsewhere. Including mansions purchased in Malibu, California, London, and Ascot (UK).

King Abdullah's lawyer says that all the properties have been bought with his money. They are used to fund many projects in Jordan. He says it is a common practice for high-profile individuals to buy a property through offshore companies for privacy and security reasons.

Names of close friends of Imran Khan

Close to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in this leak, including the names of cabinet ministers and their family members. It has been told in this leak that these people have secretly bought offshore companies.

In addition, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky transferred his stake to a secret offshore company just before winning the 2019 election.

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, a former banker, was paid monthly by a family member from the Panamanian Foundation to a US-based trust.