The Pandora Papers: Key Findings Reveal Global and Indian Elites’ Financial Secrets

Pandora Papers News: The largest ever leak of offshore bank information, the Pandora Papers, exposed the financial secrets of the wealthy and powerful. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) got 12 million records from 14 businesses in offshore tax havens two years ago, detailing the ownership of 29,000 offshore entities and trusts.

WHAT IS THE PANDORA PAPERS EXPOSE?

A new investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has revealed how the world’s elites have been hiding their fortunes in secret offshore holdings to avoid scrutiny at home.

The Pandora Papers investigation uncovered a large list of elite politicians, business executives, celebrities, and athletes who have hidden assets worth millions of dollars offshore to avoid detection and scrutiny in their home nation.

According to the Pandora Papers, Anil Ambani, the chairman of Reliance ADA Group, has at least 18 offshore entities in Jersey, the British Virgin Islands (BVI), and Cyprus. In February 2020, however, Ambani told a London court that his net worth was zero, following a dispute with three Chinese state-controlled banks.

The offshore holdings of as many as 60 notable individuals and companies were validated and probed among the 300-plus Indian identities. In the next days, these will be exposed.

PANDORA PAPERS INVESTIGATION

The Pandora Papers investigation is based on 12 million leaked documents from 14 multinational business services firms that have created up around 29,000 off-shore shell corporations and private trusts in tax havens for clients all over the world.

The papers concern the ultimate ownership of assets held in private offshore trusts. According to the Pandora Papers investigation, the investments held by offshore firms linked to these individuals include cash, shareholdings, and real estate properties.

The data, according to the ICIJ, reveal the undisclosed financial assets of 35 current and former world leaders, as well as more than 330 politicians and public officials from 91 nations.

The Pandora Papers illustrate how various offshore firm owners, including some Indians, discovered ways to adapt to the post-Panama Papers reality, when offshore investment regulation was tightened in several nations around the world.

This investigation is much broader than the Panama Papers, which shook the globe in 2016. The Panama Papers were obtained from the papers of a single offshore services company, Mossack Fonseca, whereas the Pandora Papers involve a number of lawyers and middlemen.

TOP NAMES IN PANDORA PAPERS

King Abdullah II of Jordan, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, and former associates of both Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Russian President Vladimir Putin are among those named in the Pandora Papers.

Surprisingly, former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is mentioned in the Pandora Papers. The 48-year-old was named as Beneficial Owners of an offshore business in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in the papers, according to The Indian Express newspaper, which is part of the ICIJ. The offshore entity was liquidated in 2016, according to the study.

According to the article, businessman Anil Ambani has 18 asset-holding offshore firms after declaring bankruptcy in a UK court. According to records, the head of the Reliance ADA Group and his representatives have offshore corporations in Jersey, the British Virgin Islands, and Cyprus.

Nirav Modi, the fugitive diamantaire who fled the nation after cheating Punjab National Bank (PNB) of Rs 13,600 crore, is another name named in the Pandora Papers.

According to The Indian Express, a month before Nirav Modi fled the country, his sister Purvi Modi established a company in the British Virgin Islands to operate as a corporate protector for a trust established through the Trident Trust Company in Singapore. Brookton Management Ltd was established in December 2017 to operate as The Deposit Trust’s corporate protector, according to the report.

Purvi Modi, it should be recalled, has now become an approver in the case against Nirav Modi and his uncle, Mehul Choksi.

The Pandora Papers also revealed that Indians owing banks tens of billions of rupees shifted a large portion of their assets to a network of offshore firms.

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