ICIJ Profile picture
16 Nov, 9 tweets, 8 min read
NEW: Amid its rise as a major global financial hub, the United Arab Emirates has also become a thriving offshore destination. The #PandoraPapers provide an unprecedented look at how the Emirates operate as a secrecy haven and conduit for dirty money. 🧵bit.ly/3CmTp98
ICIJ reporter @mokhbersahafi traveled to the UAE to investigate offshore companies created within Dubai’s corporate enclave and the role that the country’s six royal families play in its economy and its offshore financial industry. bit.ly/3CmTp98
In #PandoraPapers, @mokhbersahafi & @michaelwhudson show how the UAE has become a nexus for financial crime. Its offshore industry’s clients include internet moguls who moved hundreds of millions for child porn traffickers, heroin dealers & other lowlifes. bit.ly/3CmTp98
The UAE is also home to SFM Corporate Services, an offshore company formation provider. The #PandoraPapers shows how money launderers and other bad guys used SFM to set up hard-to-trace offshore firms. SFM denies wrongdoing. bit.ly/3CmTp98
The #PandoraPapers reveal the offshore holdings of heavyweight Emirati royals, including PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum; National Security Advisor Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan; and the president's son, Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan. bit.ly/3osavgQ
#PandoraPapers exposes the secretive Emirati financial interests of politicians and corporate leaders from 17 African countries. @willfitzgibbon reports on how the UAE has become an offshore destination for elites from some of Africa's poorest nations. bit.ly/3kICQ1d
The UAE has also turned to the gold trade to make up for its dwindling oil reserves, and now ranks among the world’s top gold importers, including from conflict-ridden African nations — a major driver of money laundering in the country. #PandoraPapers bit.ly/3CmTp98
The U.S. sees the UAE as a key military ally and bulwark against terrorism in the Middle East. This may explain why it hasn’t applied the same kind of pressure to clean up its offshore industry as it has on Switzerland and other tax havens. #PandoraPapers bit.ly/3CmTp98
While the UAE is now facing more anti-money laundering scrutiny, recent transparency reforms have been criticized as weak and its patchwork ‘free zone’ system, generally controlled by royals, is seen as particularly complicated to monitor. #PandoraPapers bit.ly/3CmTp98

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More from @ICIJorg

3 Nov
NEW: The #PandoraPapers show how billions of dollars are being poured into real estate by the rich and famous, whose ownership is obscured by shell companies, trusts, and other offshore entities — fueling inequality and driving up prices around the world. bit.ly/3bFy2oB
Some of the most high profile cases to emerge from the #PandoraPapers involve offshore real estate transactions, including Jordanian King Abdullah’s luxury properties valued at $100 million, and outgoing Czech PM Andrej Babis’ secret French chateau.
bit.ly/3bFy2oB Image
Why are officials, celebrities, oligarchs and other elites scooping up real estate via offshore vehicles? By purchasing properties through a shell company, buyers can secure tax breaks and hide their identities from law enforcement, creditors & the public. bit.ly/3bFy2oB Image
Read 6 tweets
13 Oct
Chilean President Sebastián Piñera is facing an impeachment bid launched today by opposition politicians after new details about a mining deal were revealed in the #PandoraPapers.

The billionaire is also under criminal investigation for the deal. bit.ly/3Bp8cjV Image
He's one of a number of world leaders now facing scrutiny for offshore activity revealed in the #PandoraPapers.

Ecuador's legislature voted to launch a probe of President Guillermo Lasso's use of tax havens, as exposed in the global investigation.
bit.ly/3ADOQ9v Image
In Ukraine, the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption is examining declarations by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The agency said it would take into account information published as part of the #PandoraPapers investigation.
bit.ly/3ADOQ9v Image
Read 6 tweets
10 Oct
Catching up on the #PandoraPapers? In the week since our 600+ journalism partners began publishing revelations from history's biggest offshore data leak, we’ve seen fallout all around the world.

Here’s a quick walk-through of key findings. #SundayRead 🧵
bit.ly/3DhIsGP
First of all, what do we mean by “offshore”?

The #PandoraPapers kick the door open on a secretive financial system that allows the wealthy and well-connected to set up covert companies across borders in tax havens, where the ownership of money and assets can be easily hidden.
🌴 In popular imagination, the offshore system is often seen as a far-flung cluster of palm-shaded islands.

The #PandoraPapers show that the offshore money machine operates in every corner of the planet, including the world’s largest democracies. bit.ly/3DhIsGP
Read 11 tweets
8 Oct
🇨🇱 Chilean President Sebastián Piñera will be criminally investigated due to a contract uncovered in the #PandoraPapers, authorities say.

It's been 5 days since our 600+ global partners began publishing findings. Here's a recap of the fallout so far.🧵bit.ly/3Bp8cjV
🇺🇸 Today, U.S. lawmakers introduced the Enablers Act, a bipartisan bill that would require a broad array of professional middlemen to do more to stop the flow of dirty money, crediting #PandoraPapers findings for highlighting the urgent need for reform. bit.ly/3mAoUGX
🇨🇿 All eyes are on the Czech Republic, where the national election has begun days after incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Babis was revealed to have used shell companies to purchase a $22 million French chateau in 2009.

Our #PandoraPapers investigation:
bit.ly/3uTbb1z
Read 7 tweets
5 Oct
We’ve shared what the #PandoraPapers reveal about world leaders and the elite western institutions that benefit from and fuel the offshore economy.

But how does this system affect everyone else?🧵
(Spoiler: It’s not just tax revenue we’re missing out on.)
bit.ly/3DhIsGP
The #PandoraPapers leads we investigated uncover the societal costs of letting the rich and powerful shield their wealth from view — and how the rule of law has been bent and broken around the world by a system of financial secrecy enabled by the U.S. and other wealthy nations.
The ICIJ team spent months reporting all over the world to understand how the offshore financial maneuvers we were seeing in the #PandoraPapers impact everyday people and communities. Here are some of those stories...
Read 10 tweets
4 Oct
It’s been just one day of #PandoraPapers revelations and we've seen swift reactions to our findings, especially with world leaders from the Czech Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Jordan and Kenya. bit.ly/3owbPkz

But many have been asking: Where's the U.S. in all this? 🇺🇸 🤔
NEW: #PandoraPapers say more about financial secrecy in the U.S. than any offshore leak has before — by exposing its role as a destination for international elites to stash their wealth with a level of protection beyond what's offered by other tax havens. bit.ly/2YsHW9X
In #PandoraPapers, ICIJ and the @washingtonpost together examined the most significant set of records ever made public from inside America’s growing trust industry, where different states compete to lure wealth by offering secrecy. bit.ly/3owbPk
Read 7 tweets

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