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| Vladimir Putin, Lionel Messi and Jackie Chan have been linked (Picture: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images) |
- Russian president Vladimir Putin and the world’s best footballer Lionel Messi are among the high profile names leaked in the ‘Panama Papers’ – along with British politicians.
A massive leak of information from a law firm in Panama has exposed how the rich and powerful are hiding their money overseas. The huge files leaked are now being refered to as Panama papers by most European media.
Although
not directly named, Vladimir Putin can allegedly be traced back through
his associates. Investigators claim he ‘secretly shuffled as much as $2
billion through banks and shadow companies’.
Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi owns a shell company along with
his father, Mega Star Enterprises, which was previously unknown to
Spanish investigators probing the Barcelona forward’s tax affairs.
An anonymous source leaked the files to German newspaper Sueddeutsche
Zeitung. The documents came from Mossack Fonseca, a law firm with
offices in more than 35 countries.
One of the law firm’s founders, Ramon Fonseca, told AFP the leaks were ‘a crime, a felony’ and ‘an attack on Panama’.
‘Certain countries don’t like it that we are so competitive in attracting companies,’ he said.
The government of Panama said it had ‘zero tolerance’ for shady deals and would work with any legal investigations.
Those who have responded so far said they didn’t have any financial benefit, did not use the company or did not act illegally.
Who else is named?
- Film star Jackie Chan
- President of Argentina Mauricio Macri
- President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko
- King of Saudi Arabia King Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud
- Iceland’s premier Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson (allegedly invested millions during his country’s financial crisis)
- Family of Chinese president Xi Jinping
- People and companies with business links to Mexican drug lords, terrorist organisations or rogue nations, including North Korea.
- Ponzi schemers, drug kingpins and tax evaders
- A US businessman convicted of travelling to Russia to have sex with underage orphans, who signed papers for an offshore company while in jail
- 29 billionaires from Forbes’ rich list
- Lord Ashcroft (who wrote the book alleging David Cameron put a ‘private part of his anatomy’ in a dead pig’s head)
- Baroness Pamela Sharples, a Tory politician
- Former Tory MP Michael Mates
One of the law firm’s founders, Ramon Fonseca, told AFP the leaks were ‘a crime, a felony’ and ‘an attack on Panama’.
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| The office of Mossack Fonseca in Panama City (Picture: EPA) |
Those who have responded so far said they didn’t have any financial benefit, did not use the company or did not act illegally.
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