{"id":88723,"date":"2017-11-07T22:14:51","date_gmt":"2017-11-08T02:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=88723"},"modified":"2017-11-07T22:16:29","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T02:16:29","slug":"paradise-papers-leak-reveals-secrets-of-the-world-elites-hidden-wealth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=88723","title":{"rendered":"Paradise Papers leak reveals secrets of the world elite&#8217;s hidden wealth"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Files from offshore law firm show financial dealings of the Queen, big multinationals and members of Donald Trump\u2019s cabinet<\/h2>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What are the Paradise Papers?\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MkVV2hvuQdM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Juliette Garside<br \/>\nThe Guardian<\/p>\n<p>The world\u2019s biggest businesses, heads of state and global figures in politics, entertainment and sport who have sheltered their wealth in secretive tax havens are being revealed this week in a major new investigation into Britain\u2019s offshore empires.<\/p>\n<p>The details come from a leak of 13.4m files that expose the global environments in which tax abuses can thrive \u2013 and the complex and seemingly artificial ways the wealthiest corporations can legally protect their wealth.<\/p>\n<p>The material, which has come from two offshore service providers and the company registries of 19 tax havens, was obtained by the German newspaper\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/projekte.sueddeutsche.de\/paradisepapers\/politik\/das-ist-das-leak-e229478\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung<\/a>\u00a0and shared by the\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.icij.org\/investigations\/paradise-papers\/paradise-papers-exposes-donald-trump-russia-links-and-piggy-banks-of-the-wealthiest-1-percent\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">International Consortium of Investigative Journalists<\/a>\u00a0with partners including the Guardian,\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-41876942\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">the BBC<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/11\/05\/world\/paradise-papers.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">the New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The project has been called the\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/paradise-papers\" data-link-name=\"auto-linked-tag\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Paradise Papers<\/a>. It reveals:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2017\/nov\/05\/revealed-queen-private-estate-invested-offshore-paradise-papers\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Millions of pounds from the Queen\u2019s private estate has been invested in a Cayman Islands fund<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and some of her money went to a retailer accused of exploiting poor families and vulnerable people.<\/li>\n<li><a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2017\/nov\/05\/wealthy-men-donald-trump-inner-circle-links-tax-havens\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Extensive offshore dealings by Donald Trump\u2019s cabinet members, advisers and donors<\/a>, including substantial payments from a\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2017\/nov\/05\/trump-commerce-secretary-wilbur-ross-business-links-putin-family-paradise-papers\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">firm co-owned by Vladimir Putin\u2019s son-in-law to the shipping group of the US commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>How\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2017\/nov\/05\/russia-funded-facebook-twitter-investments-kushner-associate\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Twitter and Facebook received hundreds of millions of dollars in investments that can be traced back to Russian state financial institutions<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>The tax-avoiding Cayman Islands trust\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2017\/nov\/05\/justin-trudeau-adviser-stephen-bronfman-offshore-paradise-papers\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">managed by the Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau\u2019s chief moneyman<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>A previously unknown\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2017\/nov\/05\/lord-ashcroft-offshore-trust-wealth-tory-peer-paradise-papers\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">$450m offshore trust that has sheltered the wealth of Lord Ashcroft<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Lord Ashcroft hides in toilets to avoid questions on tax\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SMBXARpIqME?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Lord Ashcroft hides in toilets to avoid questions on tax \u2013 video<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Aggressive tax avoidance by multinational corporations, including\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2017\/nov\/06\/nike-tax-paradise-papers\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Nike<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2017\/nov\/06\/apple-secretly-moved-jersey-ireland-tax-row-paradise-papers\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Apple<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>How some of the biggest names in the film and\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2017\/nov\/06\/mrs-browns-boys-stars-used-web-of-offshore-companies-to-avoid-tax\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">TV industries<\/a>\u00a0protect their wealth with an\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2017\/nov\/06\/james-o-toole-tax-alchemist-assets-uk-paradise-papers\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">array of offshore schemes<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>The billions in tax refunds by the Isle of Man and Malta to the owners of\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2017\/nov\/06\/isle-of-man-refunds-super-rich-private-jets-paradise-papers\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">private jets<\/a>\u00a0and luxury yachts.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/2017\/nov\/05\/revealed-glencore-secret-loan-drc-mining-rights-paradise-papers\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">secret loan and alliance used by the London-listed multinational Glencore<\/a>in its efforts to secure lucrative mining rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2017\/nov\/05\/arsenal-everton-stakeholders-close-ties-leaked-files-alisher-usmanov-farhad-moshiri\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">complex offshore webs used by two billionaires<\/a>\u00a0to buy stakes in Arsenal and Everton football clubs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The disclosures will put pressure on world leaders, including Trump and the British prime minister, Theresa May, who have both pledged to curb aggressive tax avoidance schemes.<\/p>\n<p>The publication of this investigation, for which more than 380 journalists have spent a year combing through data that stretches back 70 years, comes at a time of growing global income inequality.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, multinational companies are shifting a growing share of profits offshore \u2013 \u20ac600bn in the last year alone \u2013 the leading economist Gabriel Zucman will reveal in a study to be published later this week.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"element element-interactive interactive\" data-interactive=\"http:\/\/interactive.guim.co.uk\/embed\/iframe-wrapper\/0.1\/boot.js\" data-canonical-url=\"http:\/\/interactive.guim.co.uk\/2017\/11\/pp\/embed\/size\/index.html\" data-alt=\"Size of the Paradise Papers leak\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/interactive.guim.co.uk\/2017\/11\/pp\/embed\/size\/index.html\" width=\"300\" height=\"465\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cTax havens are one of the key engines of the rise in global inequality,\u201d he said. \u201cAs inequality rises, offshore tax evasion is becoming an elite sport.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the centre of the leak is Appleby, a law firm with outposts in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey. In contrast to\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2016\/apr\/08\/mossack-fonseca-law-firm-hide-money-panama-papers\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Mossack Fonseca<\/a>, the discredited firm at the centre of last year\u2019s\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2016\/apr\/03\/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-panama-papers\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Panama Papers investigation<\/a>, Appleby prides itself on being a leading member of the \u201cmagic circle\u201d of top-ranking offshore service providers.<\/p>\n<p>It acted for the establishment offshore, providing the structures that helped to legally reduce their tax bills.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2017\/nov\/05\/offshore-law-firm-appleby-response-no-evidence-wrongdoing-paradise-papers\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Appleby says<\/a>\u00a0it has investigated all the allegations, and found \u201cthere is no evidence of any wrongdoing, either on the part of ourselves or our clients\u201d, adding: \u201cWe are a law firm which advises clients on legitimate and lawful ways to conduct their business. We do not tolerate illegal behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2017\/nov\/05\/paradise-papers-leak-reveals-secrets-of-world-elites-hidden-wealth\">http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2017\/nov\/05\/paradise-papers-leak-reveals-secrets-of-world-elites-hidden-wealth<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Files from offshore law firm show financial dealings of the Queen, big multinationals and members of Donald Trump\u2019s cabinet<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=88723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88723\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=88723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=88723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=88723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}