Pandora Papers: Tendulkar, Ambani, etc. Have Illegal Money
Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, Reliance ADAG chief Anil Ambani, Biocon's Kiran Mazumdar Shaw are among over 300 Indians who have hidden their wealth in offshore accounts.
international finance companies. These documents were called the ‘Pandora Papers’. In these papers the ICIJ found that the world's richest people had set up accounts & invested money in fake companies to store a lot of money in countries like Panama, Dubai, Monaco, Switzerland, and the Cayman Islands because in these countries you don’t have to pay much. These rich people did this because they did not want to pay tax in their own country. The entire investigation was published in the Indian Express Newspaper. According to The Indian Express, around 380 Indians hid their money in such foreign countries. Anil Ambani—who has declared bankruptcy—has 18 companies which have lots of money and land. Nirav Modi's sister had established a trust fund a month before he fled India.
Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Biocon's Kiran Mazumdar Shaw are also some of the individuals who have hidden their wealth in such foreign countries. The Pandora Papers also reveal the illegal assets of Jordan's King Abdullah II, Czech Republic Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, former British PM Tony Blair, and the Presidents of Ukraine, Kenya, Ecuador. Many of these people portrayed themselves to be anti-corruption but they themselves are being corrupt and storing money in foreign countries to avoid paying tax. Although establishing offshore entities is not illegal in itself, it is a loophole often exploited by tax evaders, fraudsters, and money launderers. The exploitation of such entities for tax evasion costs governments billions in lost revenue. ICIJ Director Gerard Ryle said, “If this money stayed within countries, the government would get proper tax and it could have been used to control the COVID-19 pandemic. All this is very shocking.”
