Nearly 700 Pakistanis named in ‘Pandora Papers’
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The wait is finally over as a new investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) into international finance and tax havens titled “Pandora Paper” has been released.
According to Express News, nearly 700 Pakistanis have been named in the report including Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, PPP leader Sharjeel Memon, PML-N Senator Ishaq Dar’s son Ali Dar, Punjab provincial minister Aleem Khan, PTI Senator Faisal Vawda, PML-Q Leader and Federal Minister for Water Resources Monis Elahi.
Besides, retired government officials, former and incumbent bureaucrats, businessmen including Axact’s owner Shoaib Ahemd Sheikh are also mentioned in the report.
The leaked documents also contain names of Finance Minister Tarin’s family, and the son of PM Imran former adviser for finance and revenue, Waqar Masood Khan. The records also reveal the offshore dealings of a top PTI donor, Arif Naqvi, who is facing fraud charges in the United States.
Reacting to the revelation, Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed to investigate all those Pakistanis mentioned in the Pandora Papers saying: “If any wrongdoing is established we will take appropriate action.”
“We welcome the Pandora Papers exposing the ill-gotten wealth of elites, accumulated through tax evasion & corruption & laundered out to financial "havens". The UN SG’s Panel FACTI calculated a staggering $7 trillion in stolen assets parked in largely offshore tax havens,” he wrote on his official Twitter handle.
“I call on the international community to treat this grave injustice as similar to the climate change crisis,” he added.
My govt will investigate all our citizens mentioned in the Pandora Papers & if any wrongdoing is established we will take appropriate action. I call on the international community to treat this grave injustice as similar to the climate change crisis.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 3, 2021
We welcome the Pandora Papers exposing the ill-gotten wealth of elites, accumulated through tax evasion & corruption & laundered out to financial "havens". The UN SG’s Panel FACTI calculated a staggering $7 trillion in stolen assets parked in largely offshore tax havens.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 3, 2021
The ICIJ’s major investigation titled: “The Pandora Papers”, is said to be the result of 600 journalists in 117 countries studying for months roughly 11.9 million documents that leaked from the offshore environment.
Leaked documents reveal that key members of PM Imran’s inner circle, including cabinet ministers, their families and major financial backers have secretly owned an array of companies and trusts holding millions of dollars of hidden wealth. However, the documents contain no suggestion that Premier Imran himself owns offshore companies, according to the ICIJ report.
The files show how Moonis Elahi, a key political ally of Imran Khan’s, planned to put the proceeds from an allegedly corrupt business deal into a secret trust, concealing them from Pakistan’s tax authorities. Elahi did not respond to the ICIJ’s repeated requests for comment.
Today, a family spokesperson told ICIJ’s media partners that, “due to political victimisation misleading interpretations and data have been circulated in files for nefarious reasons.” He added that the family’s assets “are declared as per applicable law”.
The newly leaked records reveal the use of offshore services by Pakistan’s elites that rivals the findings of the Panama Papers, which led to Nawaz Sharif’s downfall and helped propel Imran Khan to power three years ago.
Late on Saturday, the ICIJ announced that it was going to release the “most expansive exposé of financial secrecy yet”. In 2016, the ICIJ had released the Panama Papers, which took the world by storm and eventually led to the downfall of governments, including Nawaz Sharif.
Journalist Umar Cheema, who was part of the ICIJ’s team investigating the Pandora Papers, told a private news channel that the names of several Pakistanis were on the Pandora Papers.
“The number of people named in [the Pandora Papers] is more than those named in the Panama Papers,” Cheema said, adding “the names are kind of interesting, but you will have to wait for another 24 hours”. He said that the ICIJ teams worked on the project for two years.
Cheema tweeted that the major international financial investigation has now been concluded, saying it is the biggest investigation conducted so far. Political commentators were quick to add that it would be interesting to see how the government, judiciary and media react this time around.
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