The Guardian and the Washington Post reported Sunday that a trove of financial documents shared the Pandora Papers containing names of offshore holdings of some of the wealthiest people of the world and discloses that American states now rival foreign tax heavens.

Approximately twelve million financial records from fourteen financial-services entities allegedly obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and around one hundred and fifty news organizations across the world, including the Guardian and the Post, which reportedly found a wide network of tax evasion.

Those records allegedly detail twenty-nine thousand offshore accounts, including accounts belonging to over one hundred and thirty members of the Forbes billionaire list, along with hundreds of public officials in more than ninety countries. Among the major government officials allegedly on the list are Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, King Abdullah, and leaders of the Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, the United Arab Emirates, Ecuador, Montenegro, and Chile.

According to the Washington Post, Robert F. Smith is one American whose holdings detailed broadly in the Pandora Documents, a private equity billionaire and the richest Black person of the country, who paid an approximately $140 million fine last year for failing to pay taxes on offshore funds. Furthermore, papers reportedly reveal how tax privacy laws in states such as Nevada and South Dakota help them rival offshore tax heavens as prime real estate for richest foreigners looking to protect and conceal protect their assets.

Pakistani Prime Minister Owed to Investigate Pakistani Citizens Mentioned in Pandora Papers

Both news outlets suggested the new trove of papers builds upon the Panama Papers, a 2016 statistics leak of offshore holdings that led the leaders of Pakistan and Iceland to resign but is far larger in scale. Imran Khan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, tweeted that his administration will investigate all Pakistani citizens mentioned in the Pandora documents, and if any offense established, the government will take suitable action. Khan also called on the global community to treat this grave injustice similar to the climate change crisis.

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

Furthermore, the Washington Post announced that it plans to publish eight articles about the Pandora Documents, including pieces focused on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Abdullah and stories based on United States tax-havens.

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