The Paradise Papers

Credit: ICIJ Published: November 5, 2017

The Paradise Papers is a major new leak of documents from two offshore services firms based in Bermuda and Singapore, as well as from 19 corporate registries maintained by governments in secret offshore jurisdictions. The documents were obtained by the Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which organized a collaborative investigation with dozens of outlets across the world, including the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).​

They reveal a whole world of offshore machinations by some of the wealthiest people on Earth that is usually completely obscured from public scrutiny.

In the 21st century, money crosses borders more easily -- and with less oversight -- than people. Read on below to see what months of investigation has uncovered about an enormous, and sometimes deeply troubling, segment of the global economy.

The Leak

OCCRP Stories

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London Apartments Show Ongoing Ties of Odesa Mayor to Oil Mafia

Ukraine

Odesa mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov denies links to his former colleagues from the city's notorious "Oil Mafia." But the purchase of a luxury property in London could indicate otherwise.

24 April 2018 Read the article

The Odesa Mafia’s Secret Flats in London

Ukraine

In the 1990s, “Angert’s Gang” in Odesa, Ukraine, was a powerhouse of crime. It diverted fuel sales from the reliably corrupt Odesa Refinery, extorted local businessmen, and even arranged the murders of local enemies and politicians.

23 April 2018 Read the article

Romanian Army Land Used by NATO Owned by Friends and Kin of Syrian Dictator

Romania

Land belonging to a Romanian military base used by NATO for sensitive training exercises is actually owned by influential Syrian businessmen related or connected to dictator Bashar al-Assad, a close ally of the Russian government. The unlikely landlords got ahold of the land thanks to the local abuse of laws intended to restore property confiscated by Romania’s Communist regime in the 1940s and 1950s.

6 March 2018 Read the article

Ukrainian Billionaires Exchanged Luxury London Real Estate in Secret Settlement

Ukraine

Journalists have called the case one of the most expensive in British history: One Ukrainian businessman demanded US $2 billion from two others in the London High Court in a dispute over one of their home country’s largest iron ore processing operations. The three reached a secret settlement several days before the trial. But reporters found the details of that settlement, which involved two high-value buildings in the heart of London, in the Paradise Papers documents.

15 December 2017 Read the article

Top Kazakhstani Official Holds Stake in Secretive Transportation Empire

Kazakhstan

"Kazakhstan’s largest oil extraction project largely relies on a single company to move its products abroad by rail. That company, reporters have found, has been secretly owned by a group of insiders, including a former oil minister who -- in an apparent conflict of interest -- also represents the Kazakhstani government in the joint venture."

14 November 2017 Read the article

Leaked Documents Reveal Offshore Holdings of Controversial Serbian Minister

Serbia

A data leak from Appleby, a law firm based in Bermuda, sheds light on the business and real estate empire of Nenad Popovic, a Serbian minister found to be worth at least US$ 100 million -- and possibly more.

14 November 2017 Read the article

A Yanukovych Pal and the €13 Million Yacht his Family Loves

Ukraine

Anton Prygodskyy used to hunt with Viktor Yanukovych, the former president of Ukraine, in a private hunting club just outside Kyiv.

6 November 2017 Read the article

The Magic Isle: How Wealthy Russians Use an Offshore Territory to Avoid Taxes on Private Jets

Russia

Boris and Arkadiy Rotenberg belong to one of Russia’s richest families. As old friends of President Vladimir Putin, the brothers have international business interests and active lives.

6 November 2017 Read the article

Wife of Putin’s Number Two Man Gets Rich Quick

Russia

Marina Sechina was once married to the second-most powerful man in Russia. Her ex-husband, Igor Sechin, has been a devoted subordinate to Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than 25 years.

5 November 2017 Read the article

Ukrainian Gas Official Linked to Scheme to Hide $1 Million

Ukraine

Sergiy Oleksiyenko, a former financial whiz who has held several posts in Ukraine’s oil and gas industries, set up an offshore foundation last year in an attempt to circumvent the country’s currency controls, according to leaked documents.

5 November 2017 Read the article

Tax Day Bloody Tax Day: Bono’s Lithuanian Shopping Mall Under Tax Probe

Lithuania

In four decades of touring the world, the Irish rock band U2 has never played in Utena, a sleepy place in northeast Lithuania.

5 November 2017 Read the article

Kazakhstan’s Secret Billionaires

Kazakhstan

A massive leak of documents reveals the hidden owners behind Meridian Capital, a major Kazakhstani investment and holding company with interests in oil and gas, real estate, mining, banks, aviation, transportation, and more.

5 November 2017 Read the article

Candy Company Plans Haunt Ukrainian President

Ukraine

Every time there is a major leak of offshore documents, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko seems to get caught in another discrepancy regarding his plans for Roshen, his candy company.

5 November 2017 Read the article

ICIJ Stories

Video

Partner Stories

Hungarian businessmen with political ties appear in leaked Maltese business data

A look into various influential Hungarian businessmen who appear in the Paradise Papers.

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Paradise Papers: For Cyprus, call Ivan Simic

According to leaked documents, there’s a company on Cyprus that can help Slovenian clients open offshore companies -- and it’s connected to Ivan Simic, the former director of Slovenia’s tax authority.

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Hidden businesses of influential Hungarians revealed in new massive offshore leak

The Paradise Papers shed light on the hitherto unknown business dealings of several influential Hungarian figures, including Istvan Nagy, the country's ambassador to Bern, Sandor Demjan, one of Hungary's wealthiest people, and George Soros, the Hungarian-born US billionaire.

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Czechs in the Paradise Papers

In the Paradise Papers, 12,060 documents directly concern the Czech Republic. Of these, 8,000 documents come from Appleby's law offices in the Bahamas and Asiaciti in Singapore.

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Video: Prygodskyy’s Adventure

Leaked documents show that Anton Prygodskyy -- once a friend of Ukraine’s former President, Viktor Yanukovych -- built a luxurious 37-meter yacht, the Santa Maria T. To keep its construction secret and minimize taxes, Prygodskyy worked through Maltese companies.

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Video: A Million-Dollar Deal

Leaked documents show that a former oil and gas official set up an offshore foundation to try to circumvent Ukraine’s currently controls. He denies the scheme, and it’s not known whether the transfer actually took place.

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Video: Dark Chocolate

New evidence suggests that Ukraine’s President Poroshenko took his Roshen candy empire offshore for tax purposes -- not to sell it or put it in a trust, as he had promised to do.

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The Project Team

Reporting: Ilgar Agha, Anna Babinec, Aubrey Belford, Chris Benevento, Atilla Biro, Lejla Čamdžić, Šarūnas Černiauskas, Anuška Delić, Stevan Dojčinović, Dmytro Gnap, Khadija Ismayilova, Bojana Jovanovic, Roxana Jipa, Vlad Lavrov, Elena Loginova, Ilya Lozovsky, Lawrence Marzouk, Alina Moscalu, Tessine Murji, Stelios Orphanides, Miranda Patrucić, Dragana Pećo, Pavle Petrovic, Federico Pignalberi, Madina Mammadova, Stella Roque, Karina Shedrovsky, Jelena Vasić, OCCRP Kazakhstan

Editing: Rosemary Armao, Aubrey Belford, Ilya Lozovsky, Jody McPhillips, Miranda Patrucić, Drew Sullivan

Images and Infographics: Edin Pašović

Fact Checking: Birgit Brauer, Lejla Čamdžić, Olena Goncharova, Sergiu Ipatii, Bojana Pavlović, Dima Stoianov

Translation: Marina Denisyeva

Layout: Michał "czesiek" Czyżewski, Adem Kurić, Adnan Mehremić, Michał "rysiek" Woźniak

Promotion: Stella Roque

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