What is the Pandora papers leak case?
Pandora Papers have come to spotlight after millions of documents related to hidden world of offshore wealth got leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ).
About Pandora Papers
These are the 11.9 million leaked papers from 14 companies, in offshore tax havens, comprising of details of ownership of 29,000 offshore companies and trusts from countries like Vietnam, Belize and Singapore. These documents highlight the ownership of assets has been settled in private offshore trusts and investments like cash, shareholding, and real estate properties are held by the offshore entities. In this case, around 380 people of Indian nationality have been named.
Pandora Papers investigation
A global network comprising of reporters, publication houses and International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ) took two-year effort to go through 11.9 million leaked documents. About 600 journalists from 150 media outlets are a part of the ongoing investigation. The investigation on papers reveals how people have established a complex multi-layered trust structures for estate planning and are characterised by air-tight secrecy laws. It reveals two-fold objectives being setting up the trusts:
- To hide real identities in order to make it impossible for tax authorities to reach them
- To safeguard their investments from creditors and law enforcers.
Similar leaks
- 2016 Panama Papers leaks: It is the most significant offshore leak, till date. It comprises of 2.6 terabytes of data that was leaked from a law firm Mossack Fonseca.
- Paradise Papers leaks: Paradise Papers were leaked from the offshore provider Appleby. It comprised of 1.4 terabytes of leaked data.
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Month: Current Affairs - October, 2021