To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
The Pandora Papers were published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and include private emails, secret contracts, and other records obtained during a two-year investigation involving more than 600 journalists in 117 countries and territories. (Image: ICIJ)
In what's being called the "biggest-ever leak of offshore data," a cache of nearly 12 million documents published Sunday laid bare the hidden wealth, secret dealings, and corruption of hundreds of world leaders, billionaires, public officials, celebrities, and others.
The bombshell revelations--known as the Pandora Papers--were published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and include private emails, secret contracts, and other records obtained during a two-year investigation involving more than 600 journalists in 117 countries and territories.
"This is the Panama Papers on steroids," said ICIJ director Gerard Ryle, referring to the 2016 expose of the tax-evading secrets of the super-rich. "It's broader, richer, and has more detail."
\u201cNEW: #PandoraPapers reveals the inner workings of a shadow economy that benefits the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of everyone else.\n\nBrought to you by ICIJ and 600+ journalists, the largest collaboration in journalism history. \ud83e\uddf5 https://t.co/qXMuUcqPc4\u201d— ICIJ (@ICIJ) 1633279062
According to The Guardian:
More than 100 billionaires feature in the leaked data, as well as celebrities, rock stars, and business leaders. Many use shell companies to hold luxury items such as property and yachts, as well as incognito bank accounts. There is even art ranging from looted Cambodian antiquities to paintings by Picasso and murals by Banksy.
"There's never been anything on this scale and it shows the reality of what offshore companies can offer to help people hide dodgy cash or avoid tax," said ICIJ's Fergus Shiel, who added that the people in the files "are using those offshore accounts, those offshore trusts, to buy hundreds of millions of dollars of property in other countries, and to enrich their own families, at the expense of their citizens."
The leaked documents reveal how some of the world's wealthiest people avert the financial consequences of their misdeeds by using offshore entities. Dozens of current and former world leaders feature prominently in the files, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Jordanian King Abdullah II, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
While most of the richest Americans do not appear in the files, The Washington Postreports that "perhaps the most troubling revelations for the United States... center on its expanding complicity in the offshore economy."
\u201cWhy so few US names in Pandora Papers? Largely because US is itself a spectacularly corrupt tax haven. \u201cFinancial experts said the uber-rich in the United States tend to pay such low tax rates that they have less incentive to seek offshore havens.\u201d https://t.co/YaUH86VBEE\u201d— Philip Gourevitch (@Philip Gourevitch) 1633283198
Chuck Collins, author of The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions, and co-editor of Inequality.org at the Institute for Policy Studies, said in a statement that "the U.S. has become the weak link in stopping global crime and wealth hiding."
"States like South Dakota and Delaware have morphed their laws to attract billions, sometimes illicitly obtained, from around the world," he said. "We in the U.S. should be embarrassed that we've become a magnet for kleptocratic funds."
Collins added that the Pandora Papers show "it is time for U.S. lawmakers to shut down the hidden wealth system that allows for such aggressive tax avoidance and the sequestering of wealth."
ICIJ said Sunday that the "publication of Pandora Papers stories comes at a critical moment in a global debate over the fairness of the international tax system, the role of Western professionals in the shadow economy, and the failure of governments to stanch the flow of dirty money into hidden companies and trusts," and that the documents "are expected to yield new revelations for years to come."
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
In what's being called the "biggest-ever leak of offshore data," a cache of nearly 12 million documents published Sunday laid bare the hidden wealth, secret dealings, and corruption of hundreds of world leaders, billionaires, public officials, celebrities, and others.
The bombshell revelations--known as the Pandora Papers--were published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and include private emails, secret contracts, and other records obtained during a two-year investigation involving more than 600 journalists in 117 countries and territories.
"This is the Panama Papers on steroids," said ICIJ director Gerard Ryle, referring to the 2016 expose of the tax-evading secrets of the super-rich. "It's broader, richer, and has more detail."
\u201cNEW: #PandoraPapers reveals the inner workings of a shadow economy that benefits the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of everyone else.\n\nBrought to you by ICIJ and 600+ journalists, the largest collaboration in journalism history. \ud83e\uddf5 https://t.co/qXMuUcqPc4\u201d— ICIJ (@ICIJ) 1633279062
According to The Guardian:
More than 100 billionaires feature in the leaked data, as well as celebrities, rock stars, and business leaders. Many use shell companies to hold luxury items such as property and yachts, as well as incognito bank accounts. There is even art ranging from looted Cambodian antiquities to paintings by Picasso and murals by Banksy.
"There's never been anything on this scale and it shows the reality of what offshore companies can offer to help people hide dodgy cash or avoid tax," said ICIJ's Fergus Shiel, who added that the people in the files "are using those offshore accounts, those offshore trusts, to buy hundreds of millions of dollars of property in other countries, and to enrich their own families, at the expense of their citizens."
The leaked documents reveal how some of the world's wealthiest people avert the financial consequences of their misdeeds by using offshore entities. Dozens of current and former world leaders feature prominently in the files, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Jordanian King Abdullah II, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
While most of the richest Americans do not appear in the files, The Washington Postreports that "perhaps the most troubling revelations for the United States... center on its expanding complicity in the offshore economy."
\u201cWhy so few US names in Pandora Papers? Largely because US is itself a spectacularly corrupt tax haven. \u201cFinancial experts said the uber-rich in the United States tend to pay such low tax rates that they have less incentive to seek offshore havens.\u201d https://t.co/YaUH86VBEE\u201d— Philip Gourevitch (@Philip Gourevitch) 1633283198
Chuck Collins, author of The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions, and co-editor of Inequality.org at the Institute for Policy Studies, said in a statement that "the U.S. has become the weak link in stopping global crime and wealth hiding."
"States like South Dakota and Delaware have morphed their laws to attract billions, sometimes illicitly obtained, from around the world," he said. "We in the U.S. should be embarrassed that we've become a magnet for kleptocratic funds."
Collins added that the Pandora Papers show "it is time for U.S. lawmakers to shut down the hidden wealth system that allows for such aggressive tax avoidance and the sequestering of wealth."
ICIJ said Sunday that the "publication of Pandora Papers stories comes at a critical moment in a global debate over the fairness of the international tax system, the role of Western professionals in the shadow economy, and the failure of governments to stanch the flow of dirty money into hidden companies and trusts," and that the documents "are expected to yield new revelations for years to come."
In what's being called the "biggest-ever leak of offshore data," a cache of nearly 12 million documents published Sunday laid bare the hidden wealth, secret dealings, and corruption of hundreds of world leaders, billionaires, public officials, celebrities, and others.
The bombshell revelations--known as the Pandora Papers--were published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and include private emails, secret contracts, and other records obtained during a two-year investigation involving more than 600 journalists in 117 countries and territories.
"This is the Panama Papers on steroids," said ICIJ director Gerard Ryle, referring to the 2016 expose of the tax-evading secrets of the super-rich. "It's broader, richer, and has more detail."
\u201cNEW: #PandoraPapers reveals the inner workings of a shadow economy that benefits the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of everyone else.\n\nBrought to you by ICIJ and 600+ journalists, the largest collaboration in journalism history. \ud83e\uddf5 https://t.co/qXMuUcqPc4\u201d— ICIJ (@ICIJ) 1633279062
According to The Guardian:
More than 100 billionaires feature in the leaked data, as well as celebrities, rock stars, and business leaders. Many use shell companies to hold luxury items such as property and yachts, as well as incognito bank accounts. There is even art ranging from looted Cambodian antiquities to paintings by Picasso and murals by Banksy.
"There's never been anything on this scale and it shows the reality of what offshore companies can offer to help people hide dodgy cash or avoid tax," said ICIJ's Fergus Shiel, who added that the people in the files "are using those offshore accounts, those offshore trusts, to buy hundreds of millions of dollars of property in other countries, and to enrich their own families, at the expense of their citizens."
The leaked documents reveal how some of the world's wealthiest people avert the financial consequences of their misdeeds by using offshore entities. Dozens of current and former world leaders feature prominently in the files, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Jordanian King Abdullah II, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
While most of the richest Americans do not appear in the files, The Washington Postreports that "perhaps the most troubling revelations for the United States... center on its expanding complicity in the offshore economy."
\u201cWhy so few US names in Pandora Papers? Largely because US is itself a spectacularly corrupt tax haven. \u201cFinancial experts said the uber-rich in the United States tend to pay such low tax rates that they have less incentive to seek offshore havens.\u201d https://t.co/YaUH86VBEE\u201d— Philip Gourevitch (@Philip Gourevitch) 1633283198
Chuck Collins, author of The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions, and co-editor of Inequality.org at the Institute for Policy Studies, said in a statement that "the U.S. has become the weak link in stopping global crime and wealth hiding."
"States like South Dakota and Delaware have morphed their laws to attract billions, sometimes illicitly obtained, from around the world," he said. "We in the U.S. should be embarrassed that we've become a magnet for kleptocratic funds."
Collins added that the Pandora Papers show "it is time for U.S. lawmakers to shut down the hidden wealth system that allows for such aggressive tax avoidance and the sequestering of wealth."
ICIJ said Sunday that the "publication of Pandora Papers stories comes at a critical moment in a global debate over the fairness of the international tax system, the role of Western professionals in the shadow economy, and the failure of governments to stanch the flow of dirty money into hidden companies and trusts," and that the documents "are expected to yield new revelations for years to come."