A new financial document breach dubbed the Paradise Papers has revealed how the super-rich move their money around the world and shelter their wealth in secretive tax havens.
The Queen’s private estate, U2 frontman Bono and close aides of Donald Trump are just a few of the names exposed by this latest large-scale data leak.
The Paradise Papers is the name given to the latest large-scale data hack involving the leak of 13.4 million files, which show the complex financial dealings of the super-rich and major global corporations all over the world.
Many of these files – about 6.8 million – are linked with an international offshore legal service provider called Appleby, which operates in 10 offices the world advising companies, financial institutions and the wealthy.
The name Paradise Papers was chosen because all of the locations involved in the dealings are so-called tax havens – or “tax paradises”.
Appleby confirmed it had been the subject of a hack last month, but the breach is thought to have occurred long before it was made public. Details from the hack come from 13.4 million files taken from two offshore service providers and the company registries of 19 tax havens.
The data was then passed to Süddeutsche Zeitung, the German newspaper which also received data from last year’s Panama Papers leak. The material was shared with the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which coordinated the collaboration with almost 100 other media organisations in 67 countries.
It is thought the investigation had been coordinated for at least a year. The original source of the leak has not been disclosed.
It’s important to emphasise the data leak has not revealed any illegal activity. However, it gives an insight into secretive tax havens and the companies and individuals who use them to shelter wealth. It has also exposed the international environments in which tax abuses can thrive as well as the complex ways the rich can legally protect their fortunes.
This is the fifth major leak of financial papers over the last four years and while it isn’t the largest – the Panama Papers consisted of 2.6TB of data compared with the Paradise Papers’ 1.4TB – the information this leak has exposed is thought to be more controversial because of the number of high profile names involved.
The Queen’s private estate is just one of the names contained within the data but a wide range of powerful and ultra-wealthy individuals have been exposed for secretly investing vast amounts of cash in offshore tax havens. The list includes politicians, multinationals, celebrities and high-net-worth individuals.
Many of the stories focus on how complex structures of trusts, foundations and shell companies are used to shelter wealth from tax officials or hide their dealings behind a veil of secrecy.
The allegations include:
More revelations are expected as the data breach develops.
The company, which describes itself as an offshore law firm that advises clients on legitimate and lawful ways to conduct their business, said it does not tolerate illegal behaviour.
In a statement, it added: “We take any allegation of wrongdoing, implicit or otherwise, extremely seriously.