When a Pandora's box is opened, the storm is inevitable. The result is controversy, denial, further controversy and accused who bet everything on the castling chess player. Then, after the media north wind, the bowls stop and a slow process of more accurate analysis begins. That said to understand that, for now, it is difficult to say if the Pandora Papers are really a big trouble for the people involved. What is certain is that the matter is hot and many famous names do not sleep soundly. Overwhelmed by a fuss easily translatable with the phrase seasoned with Frenchism: VIPs and powerful fucked up. As many as 35 world leaders, thousands of prominent personalities, billionaires and great entrepreneurs, whose hidden riches were suddenly photographed.
An operation, that of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), based on 11.9 million confidential files that have revealed treasures hitherto hidden. The names that have emerged are eye-popping, because they are so many and active in various fields. There is only one connection point: wealth. They range from Tony Blair to the King of Jordan, passing from the bottom of Queen Elizabeth to Julio Iglesias, Shakira, Claudia Shiffer, Guardiola, Ancelotti and Julio Iglesias. To get to some close collaborators of Vladimir Putin, and away with bankruptcies, traffickers, bosses of the Camorra. In total, there are 29,000 beneficiaries, including 300 politicians from 90 different nations. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and Dutch Economy Minister Wopke Hoekstra also came out. There are also several presidents of the Republic in office: those of Ukraine, Kenya, Chile, Ecuador, for example.
Without going around it too much, in a nutshell the Pandora Papers are an investigation that reveals tax evasion mechanisms, deliberately hidden wealth and money laundering. All thanks to 14 companies able to make the accounts of their customers "disappear" in certain offshore accounts. Each of these companies relied on offices and branches in locations well known for being tax havens. According to the reconstruction carried out by the authors of the investigation, the total "invisible" figure is between 5,600 and 32,000 billion dollars. As you can easily see, the list includes prominent politicians from both the right and the left. There are also many that are not strictly categorized as belonging to very specific alignments, but little changes, because no part can be said to be immune from involvement.
The data in question have been incorporated into the Offshore Leaks database and come from two offshore service providers: the first is the Alcogal law firm based in Panama, the other is a company called Fedelity Corporate Service. The latter is located in the British Virgin Islands.
After this latest update, ICIJ is in possession of crucial data from around 800,000 offshore entities, with links to individuals and businesses in more than 200 different territories. These data are very important, as through the publications, it will be possible to clarify the owners of foundations, trusts and other activities registered in secret jurisdictions. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, in an investigation like this one, is trying to bring out all the damage caused by the offshore economy. Director Gerard Ryle motivated the current publications and the work done so far: "The Offshore Leaks Database helps bring the power of information back to where it belongs: in the hands of the public."
The documents available on ICIJ not only refer to politicians, celebrities and billionaires who have illegally used offshore services, but also shed light on financial issues surrounding scammers, drug dealers, leaders of fugitive sects and corrupt sports directors. The scope of the Pandora Papers case was very heavy from the start. According to economist Alex Cobham, "these leaks tell us, once again, that financial secrecy is at the heart of the global economy and runs like poison through the veins of our political systems."
The publication of the Pandora Papers has allowed a global recovery of approximately 1.36 billion in back taxes. As reported by ICIJ in a piece of December 6, 2021, the investigative journalists who cover the investigation are continuing to work to bring new stories and revelations to the surface. At this point, all that remains is to inquire about this matter, with the hope that the investigative work of the correspondents will bring out the whole truth about financial illegalities.
Check out all the infos at this link:
https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/icij-releases-new-pandora-papers-data-from-two-offshore-service-providers/