What are the names of the people involved in the Pandora Papers? They range from Carlo Ancelotti to Shakira, from Julio Iglesias to Tony Blair, from Vladimir Putin to Claudia Schiffer, to name just a few of the best known personalities in Italy. However, the list is very long: including thousands of names from the world of politics, economics, sport and entertainment.
WHAT ARE PANDORA PAPERS?
But let's start from the beginning: what are Pandora Papers? The name was chosen for assonance with the Pentagon Papers (1971) and with the Panama Papers (2016), because – as in those cases – it is an international journalistic investigation which has compiled a list of people suspected of having evaded taxes by moving capital to offshore companies, i.e. companies based in tax havens (Switzerland, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seychelles, Panama and others) where the levy is close to zero and business owners are allowed to remain anonymous.
According l 'International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (Icij) - who coordinated the work, which lasted almost two years - the Pandora Papers are the most important investigation ever into international financial secrecy: in all, there are 11,9 million documents with the names of over 29 beneficiaries of offshore companies. The scoop was made by over 600 journalists from 150 international newspapers (for Italy only L'Espresso) from 117 countries.
PANDORA PAPERS: THE NAMES OF POLITICIANS
The revelations concern, among others, 35 current and former world leaders and more than 300 public officials. The King Abdullah of Jordan he allegedly spent over 80 million dollars buying residences in Great Britain and the United States, the same countries that finance his kingdom with millions of euros in aid.
As for the former British prime minister Tony Blair, would have bought an office in London together with his wife Cherie through an off-shore company, an expedient that would have allowed him to save around 400 thousand euros in taxes.
On account of Vladimir Putin some rumors have leaked about a series of secret accounts in the Principality of Monaco, while the Czech premier Andrew Babis – who in days will have to face the general elections – would have failed to declare to the tax authorities the purchase of two villas in the south of France worth 15 million euros.
But that's not all: the family Alyev, in power in Azerbaijan, would have secretly purchased, again through offshore companies, a series of properties in Great Britain, including an office building in London worth around 50 million euros.
The Pandora Papers list also includes the Dutch Minister of Economy (which has often attacked Italy in the name of financial rigor) and the presidents in office of countries such as Ukraine, Kenya, Chile ed Ecuador.
PANDORA PAPERS: CELEBRITIES AND ITALIANS
Among the names of the main celebrities involved in the scandal we find the German supermodel Claudia Schiffer and big names in music like Shakira, Elton John e Julio Iglesias. The latter, in particular, would be the beneficiary of at least 20 companies in the British Virgin Islands used to acquire villas and land in Florida for 111 million dollars.
As for the Italians, the Pandora Papers list includes the Camorra boss Raphael Amato (in prison for a final 20-year sentence), who allegedly used a Monte Carlo company to hide an English company with which he allegedly bought land and buildings in Spain.
We then talk about the former Nazi-fascist Delfo Zorzi, who was allegedly a client of Fidinam, a Swiss trust company.
Finally, the Pandora Papers also mention the foreign companies that have ended up at the center of the investigations by the Spanish tax authorities Carlo Ancelotti, current manager of Real Madrid. And that's not all: in the following days, the involvement of the national football coach Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Vialli, a member of the blue staff, also emerged. Both are owners of companies based in the British Virgin Islands, a well-known Caribbean tax haven.
