Monday, October 4 2021 10:57

ArmInfo.The secret wealth and dealings of world leaders, politicians and billionaires has been exposed in one of the biggest leaks of financial documents. AS BBC  reports, some 35 current and former leaders and more than 300 public  officials are featured in the files from offshore companies, dubbed  the Pandora Papers.

They reveal the King of Jordan secretly amassed 70 million pounds  sterling of UK and US property.

They also show how ex-UK PM Tony Blair and his wife saved 312,000  pounds sterling in stamp duty when they bought a London office.

The couple bought an offshore firm that owned the building.

The leak also links Russian President Vladimir Putin to secret assets  in Monaco, and shows the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis - facing  an election later this week - failed to declare an offshore  investment company used to purchase two villas for ?12m in the south  of France.  It is the latest in a string of leaks over the past seven  years, following the FinCen Files, the Paradise Papers, the Panama  Papers and LuxLeaks.

-A simple guide to the Pandora Papers leak

-King of Jordan amassed 70 m pounds sterling secret property empire

-Blairs saved 312,000 pounds sterling stamp duty in property deal

-Secret assets of Kenyan president's family exposed

The examination of the files is the largest organised by the  International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), with  more than 650 reporters taking part.

BBC Panorama in a joint investigation with the Guardian and the other  media partners have had access to nearly 12 million documents and  files from 14 financial services companies in countries including the  British Virgin Islands, Panama, Belize, Cyprus, the United Arab  Emirates, Singapore and Switzerland.  Some figures are facing  allegations of corruption, money laundering and global tax avoidance.   But one of the biggest revelations is how prominent and wealthy  people have been legally setting up companies to secretly buy  property in the UK.

The documents reveal the owners of some of the 95,000 offshore firms  behind the purchases.  It highlights the UK government's failure to  introduce a register of offshore property owners despite repeated  promises to do so, amid concerns some property buyers could be hiding  money- laundering activities.

The Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his family, who have been  accused of looting their own country, are one example.

The investigation found the Aliyevs and their close associates have  secretly been involved in property deals in the UK worth more than  400m pounds sterling.

UK properties owned offshore by foreign leaders

The revelations could prove embarrassing for the UK government, as  the Aliyevs appear to have made a 31m pounds sterling profit after  selling one of their London properties to the Crown Estate - the  Queen's property empire that is managed by The Treasury and raises  cash for the nation.

Many of the transactions in the documents involve no legal  wrongdoing.

But Fergus Shiel, from the ICIJ, said: "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." He added: "They  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 ICIJ believes the investigation is "opening a box on a lot of  things" - hence the name Pandora Papers.

King of Jordan's Malibu mansions

The leaked financial documents show how the King of Jordan secretly  amassed a property empire in the UK and US worth more than 70m pounds  sterling (over $100m).

They identify a network of offshore companies in the British Virgin  Islands and other tax havens used by Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein to  buy 15 homes since he assumed power in 1999.  They include 50m pounds  sterling on three adjacent ocean view properties in Malibu,  California, and properties in London and Ascot in the UK.

His property interests have been built up as King Abdullah has been  accused of presiding over an authoritarian regime, with protests  taking place in recent years amid austerity measures and tax rises.

Lawyers for King Abdullah said all the properties were bought with  personal wealth, which he also uses to fund projects for Jordan's  citizens.

They said it was common practice for high profile individuals to  purchase properties via offshore companies for privacy and security  reasons.

Among the other revelations in the Pandora Papers:

-Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta and six members of his family  secretly owned a network of offshore companies. They have been linked  to 11 firms - one of which was valued as holding assets of $30m    

-Members of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's inner circle,  including cabinet ministers and their families, secretly own  companies and trusts holding millions of dollars 

-The law firm founded by President Nicos Anastasiades of Cyprus appears to have provided fake owners to disguise the real owner of a  series of offshore companies - a former Russian politician who had  been accused of embezzlement. However, the law firm denies this 

-Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky transferred his stake in a  secret offshore company just before he won the 2019 election 

-Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso, a former banker, replaced a  Panamanian foundation that made monthly payments to his close family  members  with a trust based in South Dakota in the US

No stamp duty on Blair office buy

There is no suggestion in the Pandora Papers that Tony and Cherie  Blair were hiding their wealth.

But documents show why stamp duty was not payable when the couple  bought a 6.45m pounds sterling property.

The former Labour prime minister and his barrister wife Cherie  acquired the building in Marylebone, central London, in July 2017 by  buying the offshore company that owned it.

It is legal to acquire properties in the UK in this way and stamp  duty does not have to be paid - but Mr Blair has previously been  critical of tax loopholes.

The townhouse in Marylebone, central London, is now home to Mrs  Blair's legal consultancy, which advises governments around the  world, as well as her foundation for women.

Mrs Blair said the sellers had insisted they buy the house through  the offshore company.

She said they had brought the property back under UK rules and will  be liable to pay capital gains tax if they sell it in future.

The ultimate owners of the property were a family with political  connections in Bahrain - but both parties say they did not initially  know who they were dealing with.

The boy who owned a 33m pounds sterling London property

Other documents show how Azerbaijan's ruling Aliyev family have  secretly acquired UK property using offshore companies.

The files show how the family - long accused of corruption in the  European nation - bought 17 properties, including a 33m pounds  sterling office block in London for the president's 11-year-old son  Heydar Aliyev.

The building in Mayfair was bought by a front company owned by a  family friend of President Ilham Aliyev in 2009.

It was transferred one month later to Heydar.

The research also reveals how another office block owned by the  family nearby was sold to the Crown Estate for ?66m in 2018.

The Crown Estate said it carried out the checks required in law at  the time of purchase but is now looking into the matter.

The UK government says it is cracking down on money laundering with  tougher laws and enforcement, and that it will introduce a register  of offshore companies owning UK property when parliamentary time  allows, BBC reports.

To note, the Pandora Papers is a leak of almost 12 million documents  and files exposing the secret wealth and dealings of world leaders,  politicians and billionaires. The data was obtained by the  International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in Washington  DC and has led to one of the biggest ever global investigations. More  than 600 journalists from 117 countries have looked at the hidden  fortunes of some of the most powerful people on the planet. BBC  Panorama and the Guardian have led the investigation in the UK.