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The latest round of “leaks” of the offshore accounts and assets of the rich and famous may have caused a few red faces, but it is unlikely to land anyone in jail. So what motivated the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) to release the so-called Pandora Papers?…
The ICIJ’s online “Offshore Leaks Database” comes with a disclaimer admitting that keeping money or assets in offshore tax havens is not even a crime.”There are legitimate uses for offshore companies and trusts. We do not intend to suggest or imply that any people, companies or other entities included in the ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database have broken the law or otherwise acted improperly”, it reads.
Where Do They Get It From?
The ICIJ website invites would-be whistleblowers to leak information to their journalists. The Pandora series claims to have inside info on 14 companies operating in 38 jurisdictions, whereas the Panama Papers of 2016 were based solely on the records of now-defunct Panamanian legal firm Mossack Fonseca. But, in fact, much information on offshore holdings is in the public domain. In the US, UK, and Australia, it has been compulsory for the past decade to register offshore assets with tax authorities, on pain of prosecution. Those three countries share that information to help combat tax evasion.
