Paradise Papers list: The highest profile individuals named in the leaked documents so far
The papers reportedly show that President Donald Trump’s commerce secretary had been doing business with Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law through a shipping venture in Russia
A trove of 13.4 million leaked files from law firm Appleby over the weekend exposed the financial dealings of dozens of companies in tax havens around the world.
The information, made public in the so-called Paradise Papers, pertains to some of the world’s best-known companies and top public figures.
Here’s a look at some of the most famous individuals that are named in the files.
The Queen
The papers reveal the Duchy of Lancaster – which provides the Queen with a private income – holds funds in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.
The papers also show that the Duchy made a small investment in the controversial rent-to-buy firm BrightHouse, which was ordered to pay back £14.8m to its customers last month after the Financial Conduct Authority said it had not acted as a “responsible lender”.
The Duchy said its holdings in BrightHouse now equate to just over £3,000 and that it does not control how the fund acting on its behalf made decisions about what to invest in, according to the BBC.
There is no suggestion that the Duchy did anything illegal or that the Queen had any knowledge of what her money was being used for.
The sum is just a fraction of her estimated £500m private fortune, but Labour MP Margaret Hodge, the former chair of the Public Accounts Select Committee, said she was “furious” with those who advise the Queen for bringing her “reputation into disrepute”.
Read the full story here.
Wilbur Ross
The papers reportedly show that President Donald Trump’s commerce secretary had been doing business with Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law through a shipping venture in Russia.
Wilbur Ross has an interest in Navigator Holdings, which earns millions a year transporting oil and gas for Russian energy firm Sibur, it has been claimed. When he joined Mr Trump’s cabinet, Mr Ross divested his interests in 80 companies, but has been reported that he kept stakes in a number of companies, including several in the Cayman Islands that link him to Navigator.
One shareholder of Sibur is President Putin’s son in law, Kirill Shamalov.
Read the full story here.
Lord Ashcroft
The documents suggest that Lord Ashcroft, who is a major donor to the Conservatives and the party’s former deputy chairman, retained his non-dom status while serving in the House of Lords.
The revelation suggests the peer continued paying tax only on his UK earnings, against his previous promises and despite attempts by parliamentary authorities to make members of the House of Lords pay their full share of tax.
When he was awarded a peerage in 2000, the businessman vowed to become a permanent UK resident and drop his non-dom status. However, in 2010 he was forced to admit that he was still a non-dom.
Read the full story here.
Stephen Bronfman
Canadian Prime
Madonna
Madonna has been named for having been a shareholder in a medical supply company in Bermuda. That company was shown to have been registered in 1997 and shut down in 2013, according to media reports.
Bono
The U2 frontman used a Malta-based company to invest in a Lithuanian shopping centre, according to the papers.
Read the full story here.
Steve Bannon
The former White House chief strategist produced a book called Clinton Cash in May 2015, which accused Hilary Clinton of handing out favours in return for donations to her foundation. The Paradise Papers throw up questions about the funding for that book and Bannon's other attacks on the 2016 Democratic Party presidential nominee.
The Guardian reports that leaked documents show the billionaire hedge fund manager Robert Mercer, who has bankrolled the Republican right, may have sheltered millions of dollars from taxation using offshore investment vehicles.
Dukes of Westminster
The papers reportedly reveal that the Grosvenor family paid millions of pounds worth of dividends into companies in Panama and Bermuda.
Amitabh Bachchan
The files reportedly show that the Bollywood star was a shareholder in a digital media company that was incorporated in Bermuda in 2002.
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