MoneyTaxationWorld NewsPANDORA PAPERS: At Least Ten Nigerian Politicians, Eight Other African Countries Feature In Pandora Papers

Avatar PilotnewsOctober 5, 2021
https://www.westafricanpilotnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Pandora_papers_came_from_a_massive_leak_of_documents_illustration-1280x853.jpg

No less than 10 Nigerian politicians have been implicated in the Pandora Papers.

At least eight African countries are featured in the document.

In all, there are 336 politicians listed in the document, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which published the earth-shaking papers on Sunday.

The ‘Pandora Papers’ is an investigation based on one of the biggest-ever leaks of financial documents which, on Sunday, exposed a hidden world of shielded wealth belonging to hundreds of politicians and billionaires.

Considered as one of the largest ever global media investigations, the Pandora Papers involved more than 600 journalists who, together, analyzed some 11.9 million documents from financial services companies around the world.

They found links between almost 1,000 companies in offshore havens and 336 high-level politicians and public officials, including more than a dozen serving heads of state and government.

According to Premium Times, the contents of the document will reveal how some of the most influential Nigerians – a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, current and former state governors, past and present lawmakers, businesspeople, a popular pastor, and many others – set up shell companies, and sometimes warehouse huge financial assets, in notorious secrecy jurisdictions.

The first series published on Monday said former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, of keeping secret assets he did not declare to Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

In 2010, more than four years after Obi became governor; Obi reportedly set up his first discreet company in the British Virgin Island, and named the company Gabriella Investments Limited, after his daughter.

Premium Times reports that Obi contracted Acces International, a secrecy enabler in Monaco, France, to help him incorporate an offshore entity in one of the world’s most notorious tax havens noted for providing conduits for the wealthy and privileged corrupt political elites to hide stolen cash.

According to the newspaper, Obi also paid Acces International to provide nominee directors for the company — these directors are residents of tax havens paid to sit on boards of companies to hide the identities of real owners of offshore firms.

Acces International officials, who reportedly took briefs from Obi and or his representatives, headed to the British Virgin Island where they contracted a local registered agent – Aleman Cordero Galindo & Lee Trust (BVI) Limited (Alcogal) — to set up Gabriella Investments Limited for the former governor.

Obi, however, claimed he could not have made such a declaration on assets he co-owned with others.

“I don’t declare what is owned with others. If my family owns something I won’t declare it. I didn’t declare anything I jointly owned with anyone,” Obi told Premium Times.

According to an interactive map of the leaked documents, five Côte d’Ivoire politicians were helped by foreign agents to stash money suspected to be looted away from public view.

Ghana has three politicians listed in the documents, which has been described as “An offshore data tsunami.”

Chad, Kenya and Congo Brazzaville have two politicians each listed in the infamous documents that had reportedly sent shivers down the spines of public figures globally; while Gabon has three politicians listed.

Angola has nine politicians listed in the document, while Zimbabwe and South Africa have two each.

Mozambique has one.

 

Avatar
Follow us

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com