You might have heard about the Pandora papers, roughly 12 million leaked documents that reveal corruption and unethical dealings between the wealthy and elite of the world.
Politicians, world leaders, corporate executives, celebrities and more have all been revealed to be hiding vast amounts of wealth in offshore investments to either evade taxes or be used for nefarious purposes. As part of the papers, hundreds of politicians and other individuals around the world have been exposed as hiding wealth from the general public.
So what are the papers? The 12 million documents detail how wealthy individuals across the globe have sheltered money in offshore accounts, real estate and shell companies. While many of these actions aren't inherently illegal, avoiding taxation and hiding assets definitely is. The papers were released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which is a large group of international media organizations. According to the ICIJ 35 current and former world leaders, along with 330 politicians and public officials in 91 countries have been uncovered in the documents, alongside billionaires, murderers and wealthy individuals. Some of the documents date back several decades and come primarily from 14 different financial reporting groups. While some of the Pandora papers just imply ethically shady dealings, some do reveal some illegal activity. Some of the famous people included in the documents are Bono, Shakira, Elton John, Ringo Starr, the Qatari ruling family, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic convicted Billionaire murderer Robert Durst and even companies like Apple and Nike. The name Pandora Papers might also seem familiar. The ICIJ also released the Panama Papers in 2016 and the Paradise Papers in 2017, both making similar revelations about global wealth and wrongdoing. So what's next? Well, who knows? But chances are years of investigations and trial hearings in countries around the world. As well as what I'm sure will be some lengthy cover ups, but one thing is certain. Any suspicions you had about the ultra wealthy hiding vast amounts of wealth in an intertwined network of financial organizations, those can be 100% confirmed.
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