The biggest leak of foreign data reveals financial secrets

The biggest trove of leaked foreign data revealed hidden assets and secret deals of several of the world’s richest and influential people in history.

The document branded as Pandora papers includes files from companies selected by rich and wealthy consumers to build trusts and structures in tax havens, including Panama, Dubai, Monaco, the Cayman Islands, Switzerland.

These files reveal the secret foreign affairs of 36 world leaders. The list of influential people includes current and former prime ministers, presidents,  and governors. These files exposed the private finances of more than 310 other state leaders and officials, including judges, government ministers, mayors, and some of the military generals in more than 95 countries. The files include revelations about significant contributors to the Conservative party. This fact raises challenging questions for prime minister Boris Johnson at its annual conference.

What these documents reveal

The document reveals data of more than 150 billionaires and celebrities, business leaders, and rock stars. Many of them use such companies to keep their luxury items such as yachts, paintings, and anonymous bank accounts. The Pandora papers provide rare information of the remote operations of a global foreign economy that allows some of the world’s wealthiest people to pay little and hide their wealth.

ICIJ – The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in Washington gave access to the leaked data with several media partners, including the Washington Post, the Guardian, Le Monde, and BBC Panorama. More than 650 journalists started a massive global investigation with these files. The Pandora papers are the latest and largest data volume in terms of significant financial data leaks since 2013. 

Setting up an offshore company for security reasons is not itself illegal. However, the files exposed the secrecy that such tax havens offer.