PANDORA PAPERS

Introduction

The Pandora papers are a release of more than 12 million leaked documents that disclose the unseen and sometimes unscrupulous or corrupt dealings of the global affluent and elite people. It is the largest such data dump released to date, larger than the preceding Panama Papers and Paradise Papers leaks. The name “Pandora” was given because these documents may prove to open a Pandora’s Box of investigations and legal action in the future.

Participating Media Outlets

For the uncovering of the papers, the ICIJ worked with journalists from 91 media outlets in 117 countries including news organizations.

The following media organizations worked on the investigation

· Balkan Investigative Reporting Network

· Twala

· Poder 360

· VOD

· MANS

· L’Express

· iFact

· RISE

· KRIK

· Radio France

· Plaza Publica

· Spotify

· The Indian Express

· The Elephant

And so on…..

10 Countries that urgently need to act

Globally, the Pandora Papers must create new momentum for ending the decades-long abuse of corporate secrecy and pushing hesitant decision-makers into action. These investigations come at a time when the world is moving closer to a new global standard on corporate transparency. The Financial Action Task Force members should use this crucial opportunity to require public, central registers of company owners in all countries.

1. Brazil

2. Czech Republic

3. Lebanon

4. Nigeria

5. Sri Lanka

6. Australia

7. New Zealand

8. Panama

9. United Kingdom

10. United States

Responses from museums to antiquities investigation on Pandora Papers

Pandora Papers files found by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reveal two secret marine promises in which the accused art dealer, Douglas Latchford, used to carry money and ancient artifacts, including some believed to have been stolen.

The reporting team asked all museums about the remains in Latchford, and here are their answers:

1. San Francisco Asia Art Museum – Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Arts and Culture:

The museum stated: “Our thinking decades ago when these items were donated to our collection or received with donated funds, was to leave their birthplace legally. Today, and especially following the 2008 stance taken by the Association of Art Museum Directors on artifacts in vague terms, our response is very different – now we would not accept any artwork without complete documentation of the path it took from its origins in the museum.”

2. Brooklyn Museum

“The Brooklyn Museum has recently improved its research and documentation efforts, but that has not been motivated by the Latchford lawsuit,” the museum said. “Research on the Cambodian collection is already ongoing and is still one of the museum’s many focus areas.”

3. Denver Art Museum

The Denver Art Museum said it was “in ongoing discussions with both the American and Cambodian governments” about the items in the museum’s affiliated Latchford collection. The museum “will place more comments until the end of those talks,” it said. “As the managers of the global collection, the museum collects facts before getting a deposit and returning something to something.”

Pandora’s papers are an investigation based on more than 11.9 million documents revealing the flow of money, goods, and other assets hidden in the financial system at sea. The Washington Post and other media outlets have highlighted the involvement of political leaders, examined the growth of the sector within the United States, and demonstrated how secrecy protects assets from governments, lenders, and victims or the rich and powerful. The source of the most confidential information, the largest of its kind, was found by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which organized the investigation.

Offshore Secrecy

The secret deals and hidden assets of some of the richest and most powerful people in the world have been revealed in the largest leak of maritime data in history.

Written by Pandora’s papers, the cache includes 11.9m files from companies hired by wealthy clients to create maritime buildings and promises in taxpayers such as Panama, Dubai, Monaco, Switzerland, and the Cayman Islands.

They disclosed maritime secrets of 35 world leaders, including current and former presidents, prime ministers and heads of state. There is also a masterpiece from Cambodian antiquities to Picasso’s paintings and Banksy’s paintings.

Pandora’s papers portray the inner workings of what is dignified in the financial world, providing an unusual window into the hidden activities of the maritime economy that enables some of the world’s richest people to hide their wealth and in some cases pay little or no tax.

Investigative Journalism

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists uncovered more than 11.9 million secret files and led a team of more than 600 journalists from 150 news outlets who spent two years investigating them, tracking hard-to-find sources and digging into court records and other public documents from many countries.

Leaked records from 14 international maritime service firms set up shell companies and other offshore nooks for customers who often want to keep their financial activities in check. The findings of the ICIJ and its media partners show how much of the private sector is deeply involved in global politics – and provides insight into why governments and international organizations have made significant progress in eliminating overseas financial abuses.

The ICIJ analysis of secret documents identified 956 companies in coastal areas held by high-ranking politicians and 336 public officials, including national leaders, Cabinet ministers, ambassadors.

The Pandora Papers investigation is extensive and global and even the ICIJ’s Panama Papers investigation, which shook the world in 2016, led to police attacks and new laws in many countries and the fall of the prime minister in Iceland and Pakistan.

Conclusion

We see a similar pattern similar to the leak of the 2016 Panama Papers and the rewarding Paradise Papers of 2017: legal corruption at the highest levels, at an unexpected level. And it seems that the people who have the most power to end this nightmare are the ones who are investing the most in it to their advantage.

Each successive reward brings the same message: Leave any hope that the government will serve the people or that the law will be applied equally to all, which is the basis of today’s government.

However, there is the reason for optimism, even if it is not the way we would expect it to be. New rules will not help you, because they may not be built fast enough or made wide enough to make a meaningful change. But there is evidence that technology and public opinion remove the balance between the use of the elite in the overseas financial services industry.

Credits :

Content- Harsha, Ishita

Infographics- Ketan, Khushboo