THE Paradise Papers detail the tax affairs of some of the wealthiest people and companies on the planet. The biggest data leak since the Panama Papers last year, they have been analysed by reporters all over the world, in a project overseen by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
First obtained by the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, the documents stem from two offshore service providers and company registries from 19 tax havens.
The papers have shown politicians, celebrities and companies to be protecting their cash from the taxman, and hiding financial dealings.
That’s not to say people have done anything illegal. The papers show how some of the wealthiest individ- uals and companies in the world go right to the line as they attempt to reduce the amount of tax they pay.
Most of the papers leaked come from Appleby, a Bermuda-based law firm specialising in offshore accounts.
They’re a mixture of bank statements, emails and loan agreements, Other records came from Asiaciti Trust, a family-run offshore specialist based in Singapore.
International household names such as Nike and Apple feature prominently, highlighted for their alleged use of aggressive tax avoidance schemes.
Tory donor Lord Ashcroft is the most prominent British political figure to be named in the Paradise Papers.
The former Tory Party deputy chairman has given millions of pounds to the Conservatives, but fell out spectacularly with David Cameron.
Ashcroft even published a book that contained the unsubstantiated claim Cameron had put a “private part of his anatomy” into a dead pig’s mouth. It is claimed Ashcroft continued to avoid paying tax despite attempts by Parliament to make peers pay their full share.
According to the papers, Ashcroft was domiciled for tax purposes in Belize at a time when it was widely believed he had given up the status. he denies any wrongdoing, According to the Guardian, U2 singer Bono is alleged to have used a company based in Malta to pay for a share in a shopping centre based in Lithuania. The Irish star said he would be distressed if that was the case.
The BBC claims the papers show that a private jet company owned by Celtic’s biggest single shareholder, Dermot Desmond, until 2015 used an offshore haven to avoid taxes, which he strongly denies. It also says that Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton appears to have received a £3.3 million VAT refund on a £16.5m private plane after it was imported through the Isle of Man.
Other celebrities caught up in the scandal include three stars of the sitcom Mrs Brown’s Boys. It is claimed Patrick Houlihan and Martin and Fiona Delany put more than £2m into an offshore tax-avoidance scheme.
Donald Trump’s commerce secretary Wilbur Ross is also under scrutiny after the documents showed he had a financial interest in a firm in which some shareholders have ties to the Kremlin.
The businessman-turned politician has investments in shipping firm Navigator Holdings, which earns millions a year transporting oil and gas for Sibur. Two of Navigator’s projects have been sanctioned by the US. Another key Sibur shareholder is President Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law, Kirill Shamalov.
Ross told the BBC: “There’s nothing whatsoever improper about Navigator having a relationship with Sibur. If our government decided to sanction them, that would be a different story.”
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