Paradise Papers: Here’s Everything You Need To Know
All the updates so far on the Paradise Papers, which hit the shelves this weekend
What do the Queen of England, Bono, Nike, Russian state finance institutions, and Wilbur Ross have in common? They’ve all been named in a massive journalistic investigation into the use of tax havens to shelter their wealth.
As many as 13.4 million files, amounting to 1.4 terabytes of data, being called the ‘Paradise Papers’ were acquired by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The paper, which incidentally also received the Panama Papers, then enrolled the assistance of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to investigate the data.
The raw data, according to the Guardian, has come from two offshore service providers and the company registries of 19 tax havens. The newspaper has not disclosed where it received it from.
While maintaining an offshore account is not illegal per se, it can be used to evade tax.
Several global media organisations released reports on the initial details of the investigation over the weekend. And while more reports are expected to follow over the course of the week, here are a few of the headlines.
The Appleby Connection
Most of the leaked documents – 6.8 million – mention law firm and corporate services provider Appleby. The law firm has outposts in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey.
Appleby, for its part, has said that it is an offshore law firm that advises clients on legitimate and lawful ways to conduct their business. It has also vociferously denied allegations of wrongdoing in a statement.
Appleby has thoroughly and vigorously investigated the allegations and we are satisfied that there is no evidence of any wrongdoing, either on the part of ourselves or our clients.Appleby Statement
The law firm went on to state, “We refute any allegations that may suggest otherwise and we would be happy to cooperate fully with any legitimate and authorised investigation of the allegations by the appropriate and relevant authorities.”
The Queen of England
The Guardian has reported that millions of pounds from the Queen’s private estate, the Duchy of Lancaster, has been invested in a Cayman Islands fund.
The Duchy of Lancaster, which was set up in 1399, manages land and investments held in trust for the Queen. The private estate, according to the Guardian, has held and continues to hold investments through funds that have put money into an array of businesses.
Putin, Facebook and Twitter
Leaked documents reveal that Russian institutions with close ties to President Vladimir Putin funded large investments in social media giants Facebook and Twitter, Guardian reported.
The investments were made through Yuri Milner, a business associate of Jared Kushner, who is U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, the paper reported.
The Indian Angle
A total of 714 Indians have found mention in the Paradise Papers, according to a report filed by Indian Express, which was part of the investigations.
According to the Indian Express, the Sun Group, which was founded by Nand Lal Khemka, figures as Appleby’s second-largest client globally, with 118 different offshore entities.
The Paradise Papers, according to the newspaper, name several companies that have already been investigated by India’s investigating agencies. These include the firms in the Sun TV-Aircel-Maxis case, the Essar-Loop 2G case, and a Rajasthan ambulance scam involving a company called Ziquista Healthcare.
Other prominent Indian corporates which figure in the Appleby database include Jindal Steel, Apollo Tyres, Havells, Hindujas, Emaar MGF, Videocon, the Hiranandani Group and D S Construction, the Indian Express reported.
The paper also reported that Minister of State for Aviation, Jayant Sinha, did not disclose that he was a director of a U.S. company D.Light Design. Sinha responded to the report saying he had worked with Omidyar Network as Managing Director in India and Omidyar Network had invested in D.Light Design.
Other Mentions
The Guardian also names the following as part of the Paradise Papers investigation:
- A tax-avoiding Cayman Islands trust managed by Stephen Bronfman, the chief fundraiser and senior adviser to the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
- Apple, Nike, and other multinational corporations have undertaken aggressive tax avoidance.
- The world’s largest mining company, Glencore, secretly loaned tens of millions of dollars to an Israeli billionaire after it enlisted him to secure a controversial mining agreement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- Two Russian billionaires used complex offshore channels to buy stakes in Arsenal and Everton, two large English football clubs.
Watch the full interview with Jay Mazoomdaar of The Indian Express.