Find out what Pandora Papers are
Pandora Papers have been investigations carried out by anonymous people, files that were delivered almost two years ago to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the ICIJ, for its acronym in English.
The source from which all the information that was leaked has come, from politicians and different institutions that have wanted to hide their great fortunes, legal or illegal.
The ICIJ for its acronym in English, is the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists; a network as its name makes reference very well, International, based in Washington, which includes more than 190 investigative journalists from more than 65 countries.
It was created in 1997 as a project of the Center for Public Integrity, currently its director is a journalist named Gerard Ryle of Irish nationality, it is important to remember that the ICIJ published a worldwide impact investigation on April 3, 2016 which was very popular and known all over the world, the famous Panama Papers.
Once in context with the source that is giving us the opportunity to know how people use tax havens and secrets to buy properties and hide assets, many of these avoid taxes and worse.
What are Pandora Papers?
Going into the matter, Pandora Papers is one of the largest leaks that contains documents, images, emails, spreadsheets and other types of materials.
To give you an idea of what we are talking about, the Panama Papers in 2016 were 2.6 TB (Terabyte) that were distributed in 11.5 million files, and the Pandora Papers occupy a space of 2.94 TB (terabyte) distributed in 13.4 million files.
In these 2.94 terabytes, the extraterritorial secrets of the richest elites from more than 200 countries and territories are exposed, they have been people who use tax havens and secrets to buy properties and hide the great fortunes they have obtained legally or illegally.
Why do I mention the possibility that it is legal or illegal? Because it could have made a fortune in a legal way, but to evade tax obligations they use these mechanisms.
In these Pandora Papers, more than 330 politicians and 130 Forbes billionaires are involved, as well as celebrities, con artists, drug dealers, members of the royal family and leaders of religious groups from around the world.
Little by little we will be making known the most outstanding and most relevant cases to which this new scandal makes known.
The investigation is based on a leak of confidential records of fourteen offshore service providers, whose mission is to provide professional services to wealthy individuals seeking to incorporate shell companies, foundations, trusts and other entities in low or no tax jurisdictions.
In other words, these organizations allow owners to hide their identities from the public and sometimes from regulatory bodies.
The providers of these services help these people to open bank accounts in countries with light financial regulations, or rather, institutions that care more about the amount of money than where it comes from.
The records include an unprecedented amount of information on the so-called real beneficiaries, who are after the front men or proxies with whom they try to mislead and disengage those of illicit that are commented, in addition, the entities where it has been registered in the British Virgin Islands, Seychelles, Hong Kong, Belize, Panama, South Dakota and other secret jurisdictions.
How does this type of research affect or benefit us?
This type of investigation brings to light how we live today, where only the personal good is sought, others are not.
In this investigation we see a large number of politicians who have been elected by their peoples to be their representatives and they have only come to fill their pockets and find a way to hide all that illicit profit from which they were made.
It is important that people know how all these people function in corruption networks that helps them legalize the assets that are stolen from each of us who have come out to give them a vote of confidence, thus stealing the opportunities that should be for their people, for our families and for ourselves.
In short, said investigation is not only of politicians and celebrity stars, but also religious congregations hidden behind a belief, have lost the course of their missions and are indicated in these documents with exaggerated amounts of money, which were obtained by means of donations for specific purposes to help those most in need, and in the end we see how sadly they end up in trusts and with their funds diverted for personal gain.
Personalities you've ever heard of appearing in pandora papers
The investigation reveals many secret assets, covert deals and hidden fortunes of many, many rich and powerful, we have said it before, politicians and public officials, heads of state of Latin America, current and already retired, Russian high-ranking characters, movie stars and singers are one of the posts on this long list of people who have wanted to hide their great financial resources.
Some of the prominent names on this list are President Sebastián Piñera, who hid shares of a mining company, you can also find figures such as the former director of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who evaded taxes in the collection of consulting work.
It involves the King of Jordan, Abdullah II, his 30 companies and his three mansions in Malibu, the Czech Prime Minister, Andrej Babis, who used an offshore framework to buy a castle with a cinema and two swimming pools.
Among movie stars, singers and sports, Julio Iglesias and Shakira stand out as figures who have tried to evade obligations with the treasury and are being investigated for these causes.
We cannot finish without first mentioning the well-known Pep Guardiola and his Andorran account, in addition to these, other relevant personalities that will be revealed in the coming weeks.
Little by little more details of cases will be released, remember that the leak of these news began last Sunday night when some details of the immensity of investigations contained in the Pandora Papers were released.
