‘Pandora Papers’ Reveal New Secrets of World’s Wealthiest People

The report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) brought promises of tax reform and demands for resignations and investigations¹. Explanations and denials from those targeted followed.

The investigation², named the Pandora Papers, was published Sunday night. It involved 600 journalists from 150 media groups in 117 countries.

The reporters examined accounts based in traditional island havens³ like the British Virgin⁵ Islands, Seychelles, Hong Kong and Belize. But, the investigation also found such accounts hidden in less expected places, including the U.S. states of South Dakota and Florida.

Tax advisers⁶ helped the world's wealthiest and most powerful people hide their ownership of the properties to avoid tax requirements. While many of the accounts are legal, they are ethically⁷ questionable⁸.

Critics say the property owners should have paid taxes on their sales and purchases. Sven Giegold is a member of the European parliament. He said: "Global tax evasion⁹ fuels global inequality."

Oxfam International is a British aid group. In a statement, it said the missing tax dollars result in fewer public projects, like hospitals and schools.

"This is where the pay-packets sit of all the extra teachers and firefighters and public servants we need," Oxfam wrote.

Some of the owners published in the report include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and King Abdullah II of Jordan. Other names were Czech prime minister Andrej Babis, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, Ecuador's president Guillermo Lasso and close contacts of Russian president Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan.

The report follows from an earlier investigation called the "Panama Papers." The Panama Papers showed the true owners of secret bank accounts in places such as the American state of Nevada, the British Virgin Islands and Singapore. The ICIJ says the Panama Papers led many politicians to leave office and countries around the world to demand over $1 billion in unpaid¹⁰ taxes.

After Sunday's report, the European Commission said it will propose new laws that will make it harder for people to avoid paying taxes.

The newest report covers activity from as long ago as the 1970s, but most is from the last 25 years.

The ICIJ shows that King Abdullah created over 30 companies from 1995 to 2017 to secretly buy 14 homes worth more than $100 million. One is a $23 million property on the California coast.

In a statement, the King denied any wrongdoing and said the secrecy¹¹ was necessary for security reasons. King Abdullah's lawyers said he is not required to pay taxes under his country's law. They also said most of the companies and properties are not connected to the King or no longer exist. They did not provide details, however.

The report also detailed¹² a purchase of a company by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He took over a building in London valued at almost $9 million. But instead of buying the building, Blair purchased a company that owned the building. The company was owned by a politician from Bahrain. The investigation showed this saved the Blairs more than $400,000 in taxes.

The Blairs said they did not know who owned the company, which they said is now closed.

Another property deal in Britain is being studied. The "Pandora Papers" report looked at a purchase of a building valued at $91 million by The Crown Estate, a property business owned by Queen Elizabeth. The Guardian¹³, a British newspaper, said the purchase should be investigated for possible money laundering¹⁴.

The building was owned at the time by Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan. Aliyev has been accused of corruption¹⁵ during his term, which started in 2003.

President Khan of Pakistan is not accused of any wrongdoing. However, officials close to him, including the country's finance minister, Shaukat Fayaz Ahmed Tarin, are accused of hiding millions of dollars in wealth in secret companies or trusts.

In reaction, Khan said his government will investigate every Pakistani citizen named in the papers.

The ICIJ report also showed Babis, of the Czech Republic, put $22 million into a company so he could buy a large home in southern France in 2009. He did not document the company or the home as required by law.

Babis said he did nothing wrong and that the report came out just in time to hurt him before the Czech election later this week.

Critics worldwide said weak laws that allow wealthy people to avoid taxes are the true problem.

Cory Doctorow is a writer and activist¹⁶. He wrote about the news on Twitter, noting: "The legality is the true scandal," and called the companies that hold the costly¹⁷ properties "a fiction."

Gabriel Zucman, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley believes the solution is easy to understand: Ban "corporations with no economic substance, whose sole purpose is to avoid taxes or other laws."

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, of Ohio, said the laws as they are currently written permit "wealthy elites¹⁸ to avoid paying their fair share while working families are forced to make up the difference."

Words in This Story

trust – n. an arrangement in which someone's property or money is legally held or managed by someone else or by an organization (such as a bank) for usually a set period of time

haven⁴ – n. a place where you are protected from danger, trouble, etc.

evasion – n. the act of avoiding something that you do not want to do or deal with : the act of evading²⁰ something

packet – n. a small envelope or package, informal

money laundering – n. moving money obtained illegally so that it looks like it was earned legally

scandal – n. an occurrence in which people are shocked and upset because of behavior that is morally or legally wrong

fiction – n. something that is not true

sole – adj. only or single

elite¹⁹ – n. the people who have the most wealth and status in a society : the most successful or powerful group of people

1 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

4 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

5 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

6 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

7 ethically   

adv.在伦理上，道德上

参考例句：

• Ethically , we have nothing to be ashamed about . 从伦理上说，我们没有什么好羞愧的。
• Describe the appropriate action to take in an ethically ambiguous situation. 描述适当行为采取在一个道德地模棱两可的情况。

8 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

9 evasion   

n.逃避，偷漏(税)

参考例句：

• The movie star is in prison for tax evasion.那位影星因为逃税而坐牢。
• The act was passed as a safeguard against tax evasion.这项法案旨在防止逃税行为。

10 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

11 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

12 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

13 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

14 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

16 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

17 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

18 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。

19 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

20 evading   

逃避( evade的现在分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出

参考例句：

• Segmentation of a project is one means of evading NEPA. 把某一工程进行分割，是回避《国家环境政策法》的一种手段。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Too many companies, she says, are evading the issue. 她说太多公司都在回避这个问题。