Windjammer
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Guardian-media body unearths offshore wealth...Rich Pakistanis being exposed in the UK, Moonis is the first Denies owning offshore company - thenews.com.pk
LONDON: Pakistani government officials and rich families face exposure in a leak that is set to reveal the identities of some of the worlds wealthiest people who stash their wealth abroad in offshore accounts.
Pakistani politician and industrialist Moonis Elahi became the first Pakistani on Thursday whose name was revealed as owner of an offshore company called Olive Grove Assets Ltd in British Virgin Island (BVI).
The leak identifying Pakistani personalities could cause seismic shock at a time when election campaign is in full swing and there are speculations that many leading names could make it to the list.
The offshore financial industry has been hit by the leak of 2.5 million secret bank accounts of companies and nationals in 170 countries in a novel project by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists [ICIJ], in collaboration with the Guardian and other international media, who are jointly publishing their research results this week.
Elahi, the son of Pakistans former deputy prime minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi who runs a family textile business, has denied owning the offshore company but the leak said that his Olive Grove Assets Ltd in BV1 was incorporated in 2006, and the address listed in BVI records is the Chaudhry family residence in Lahore. He did not state whether he had previously owned the firm, said the Guardian.
The Guardian said: Activity by an extraordinary array of government officials and rich families across the world has been identified, from the UK, Canada, the US, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran, China, Thailand and former communist states.
Former chief economist at McKinsey has estimated that the leak of 2m emails and other documents, mainly from the offshore haven of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), may have as much as $32tn (£21tn) stashed in overseas havens.
Already, in France, Jean-Jacques Augier, President François Hollandes campaign co-treasurer and close friend, has been forced to publicly identify his Chinese business partner. It emerges as Hollande is mired in financial scandal because his former budget minister concealed a Swiss bank account for 20 years and repeatedly lied about it. In Mongolia, the countrys former finance minister and deputy speaker of its parliament says he may have to resign from politics as a result of this investigation.
The naming of rich citizens may be extremely damaging for confidence among the worlds wealthiest people who will no longer trust that their fortunes could remain hidden from their governments and accountability agencies.
These revelations will come as a rude awakening to the elite in developing countries who will see their names dragged in media for days on end.
Many Pakistanis have their offshore accounts but they pay a heavy price to maintain their secrecy. They have private bankers who manage their assets but the same people do not pay taxes and lie to their own people.
During the trial of former Pakistani investments minister Senator Waqar Khan, it was astonishingly revealed how the Pakistani politician owned approximately more than £100 million worth of assets in London, unknown to people in Pakistan and to his constituents, and then he had an assets manager too who acted on behalf of international banks.
The Guardian said: It is estimated that more than $20tn acquired by wealthy individuals could lie in offshore accounts.
The UK-controlled BVI has been the most successful among the mushrooming secrecy havens that cater for them.
The Caribbean micro-state has incorporated more than a million such offshore entities since it began marketing itself worldwide in the 1980s. Owners true identities are never revealed.
This is believed to be one of the largest ever leaks of financial data leak, containing entries of nearly 30 years, emails and other confidential details from 10 offshore havens around the world.
The leak amounts to 260 gigabytes of data, or 162 times larger than the US State Department cables published by WikiLeaks in 2010.
LONDON: Pakistani government officials and rich families face exposure in a leak that is set to reveal the identities of some of the worlds wealthiest people who stash their wealth abroad in offshore accounts.
Pakistani politician and industrialist Moonis Elahi became the first Pakistani on Thursday whose name was revealed as owner of an offshore company called Olive Grove Assets Ltd in British Virgin Island (BVI).
The leak identifying Pakistani personalities could cause seismic shock at a time when election campaign is in full swing and there are speculations that many leading names could make it to the list.
The offshore financial industry has been hit by the leak of 2.5 million secret bank accounts of companies and nationals in 170 countries in a novel project by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists [ICIJ], in collaboration with the Guardian and other international media, who are jointly publishing their research results this week.
Elahi, the son of Pakistans former deputy prime minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi who runs a family textile business, has denied owning the offshore company but the leak said that his Olive Grove Assets Ltd in BV1 was incorporated in 2006, and the address listed in BVI records is the Chaudhry family residence in Lahore. He did not state whether he had previously owned the firm, said the Guardian.
The Guardian said: Activity by an extraordinary array of government officials and rich families across the world has been identified, from the UK, Canada, the US, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran, China, Thailand and former communist states.
Former chief economist at McKinsey has estimated that the leak of 2m emails and other documents, mainly from the offshore haven of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), may have as much as $32tn (£21tn) stashed in overseas havens.
Already, in France, Jean-Jacques Augier, President François Hollandes campaign co-treasurer and close friend, has been forced to publicly identify his Chinese business partner. It emerges as Hollande is mired in financial scandal because his former budget minister concealed a Swiss bank account for 20 years and repeatedly lied about it. In Mongolia, the countrys former finance minister and deputy speaker of its parliament says he may have to resign from politics as a result of this investigation.
The naming of rich citizens may be extremely damaging for confidence among the worlds wealthiest people who will no longer trust that their fortunes could remain hidden from their governments and accountability agencies.
These revelations will come as a rude awakening to the elite in developing countries who will see their names dragged in media for days on end.
Many Pakistanis have their offshore accounts but they pay a heavy price to maintain their secrecy. They have private bankers who manage their assets but the same people do not pay taxes and lie to their own people.
During the trial of former Pakistani investments minister Senator Waqar Khan, it was astonishingly revealed how the Pakistani politician owned approximately more than £100 million worth of assets in London, unknown to people in Pakistan and to his constituents, and then he had an assets manager too who acted on behalf of international banks.
The Guardian said: It is estimated that more than $20tn acquired by wealthy individuals could lie in offshore accounts.
The UK-controlled BVI has been the most successful among the mushrooming secrecy havens that cater for them.
The Caribbean micro-state has incorporated more than a million such offshore entities since it began marketing itself worldwide in the 1980s. Owners true identities are never revealed.
This is believed to be one of the largest ever leaks of financial data leak, containing entries of nearly 30 years, emails and other confidential details from 10 offshore havens around the world.
The leak amounts to 260 gigabytes of data, or 162 times larger than the US State Department cables published by WikiLeaks in 2010.
