October 4, 2021: Indian cricketer and a Member of Parliament, Sachin Tendulkar, Reliance ADAG chief Anil Ambani and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairperson and MD of Biocon have been listed among the affluent individuals whose names were linked with the ‘Pandora Papers’, the biggest offshore data that claims to have uncovered financial secrets of current and former world leaders, politicians and public officials in 91 countries and territories, including India.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which involved the BBC and ‘The Guardian’ newspaper in the U.K. and ‘The Indian Express’ in India among 150 media outlets in its investigation, unveiled ‘Pandora Papers’, the biggest ever leak of offshore data that claimed to obtained the trove of more than 11.9 million confidential files to find secret financial dealings of many super rich.
The ICJI have uncovered financial secrets of rich and powerful of 35 current and former world leaders, more than 330 politicians and public officials in 91 countries and territories, and a global lineup of fugitives, con artists and murderers.
According to media reports, the ICIJ has reportedly revealed nearly 12 million documents purportedly exposing hundreds of world leaders, powerful politicians, billionaires, celebrities, religious leaders and drug dealers who have been hiding their investments in mansions, exclusive beachfront property, yachts and other assets for the past quarter-century.
More than 330 current and former politicians identified as beneficiaries of the secret accounts include Jordan’s King Abdullah II, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, Czech Republic Prime Minister Andrej Babis, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso, and associates of both Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, reports said.
It detailed the financial activities of Putin’s “unofficial minister of propaganda” and more than 130 billionaires from Russia, the United States, Turkey and other nations, reports added.
