Pandora Papers Leak: ICIJ leaks ‘haven of scams’, exposes the 'financial secrets’ of 300 Indians including Sachin Tendulkar

New Delhi, October 04: Unearthing the financial secrets of the global elite, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published Pandora papers and exposed the names of billionaires including 300 Indians who have stashed away "billions of dollars" in offshore accounts.

Notably, the "Pandora Papers" are the latest in a series of mass ICIJ leaks of financial documents that started with LuxLeaks in 2014 and were followed by the Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers, and FinCen. The investigation involved some 600 journalists from dozens of media including The Washington Post and The Guardian. The investigation is based on the leak of some 11.9 million documents from 14 financial services companies around the world. The Pandora papers contain 2.94 terabytes of data.

The files were shared by the ICIJ with over 600 journalists from 130 news organizations, making it the largest journalist cooperation in history. The records date back to the 1970s, but most of the files span from 1996 to 2020. It has revealed the offshore financial assets of dozens of current and former world leaders and hundreds of politicians from Asia and the Middle East to Latin America. The papers have exposed the financial secrets of some of the most powerful people on the planet including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to an Indian Express report, the document has exposed 300 Indian including Gandhi's family friend Satish Sharma, cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Ambani, Biocon promoter Kiran Mazumder Shaw, Nirav Modi, Jackie Shroff.

Gandhi's family friend Satish Sharma

The paper revealed that Captain Satish Sharma, Congress leader, a friend of the Gandhi family, and a former Union Minister who passed away in February this year, had offshore entities and properties abroad. At least 10 members of Sharma’s family including his wife Sterre, children, and grandchildren are among the beneficiaries of a trust, the Jan Zegers Trust — a declaration Sharma never made to the Election Commission while filing poll nomination papers.

According to documents of the AsiaCiti Trust, the Jan Zegers Trust was incorporated in the Cayman Islands in 1995 — Sharma was then Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas – and later under the governing law of New Zealand. Another trust, named the JZ II Trust, was incorporated in New Zealand in October 2015 when Sharma was a Rajya Sabha member.

Sachin Tendulkar

Reports suggest that Tendulkar has been figured in the Pandora Papers as Beneficial Owners of an offshore entity in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) which was liquidated in 2016. The report said that "Tendulkar's attorney said the cricket player's investment is legitimate and has been declared to tax authorities," the report added.

Anil Ambani

Moreover, despite declaring bankruptcy in a UK court, billionaire Anil Ambani owns 18 offshore firms that have borrowed and invested $1.3 billion, one of which shares a promoter firm that owns Reliance Capital listed in India.

Nirav Modi

Also, fugitive economic offender Nirav Modi’s sister set up the firm in the British Virgin Islands just a month before the tainted diamantaire fled India. He set up a company to act as a corporate protector of trust through the Trident Trust Company, Singapore. The investigative reports show that the firm, Brookton Management Ltd, was set up in December 2017 to act as the corporate protector of The Deposit Trust.

Kiran Mazumder Shaw

Kiran Shaw's husband has reportedly set up an entity that holds 19.76% in Biocon and has $85 million in various assets, including cash and real estate.

Jackie Shroff

The Pandora papers have further revealed that popular Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff was the prime beneficiary of a trust set up in New Zealand by his mother-in-law. He also made “substantial contributions” to this trust, which had a Swiss bank account and owned an offshore company registered in the British Virgin Islands, records show.

The Express report added that several individuals who owned offshore entities opted for a reorganisation of their foreign assets after the massive Panama papers leak in 2016. The report also mentions that cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar was among the individuals who asked for the liquidation of his offshore entity after the Panama leak.

The report also names 7 Pakistani politicians among those who stashed their riches in secret hidden accounts or companies. The 2016 leak by ICIJ led to the ouster of heads of states in Iceland and Pakistan.

Pakistan PM Imran Khan

According to the report, leaked documents revealed that “key members” of Prime Minister Khan’s inner circle, including cabinet ministers, their families, and major financial backers “have secretly owned an array of companies and trusts holding millions of dollars of hidden wealth”.

"ICIJ's latest investigation, the Pandora Papers, brings renewed attention to the use of offshore companies by Pakistani political players. This time, the offshore holdings of people close to (Prime Minister Imran) Khan are being disclosed, including his finance minister and a top financial backer,” the ICJ report notes.