Panama papers: the latest developments

The Latest on the publication by a coalition of media outlets of an investigation into offshore financial dealings by the rich and famous:

Slovenia: Boxer Dejan Zavec named
Slovenia’s finance ministry has called for greater international sharing of data to tackle the kind of tax fraud allegedly revealed by the data leaked by a Panama-based law firm.
The ministry said Slovenia was active in tackling tax havens by investigating hundreds of suspected cases of tax evasion. It says an additional 24 million of euros was collected between 2011 and 2015 as a result of probes into suspected transactions.
Slovenia’s Delo newspaper says that according to leaked documents it analyzed, at least 78 Slovenian companies and 74 Slovenian individuals are reportedly associated with offshore companies set up through the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm.
The newspaper says that Slovenia’s most prominent boxer Dejan Zavec is among those named in the leaked documents. He has said he has done nothing wrong.

Putin: Spokesman says ‘Russian leader has no connection whatsoever’
President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman says the Russian leader has no connection whatsoever to offshore accounts allegedly owned by his close friend, a Russian musician.
Dmitry Peskov says the leaked documents from a Panama-based firm have been wilfully interpreted by an international consortium of investigative journalists to make what he called an unfounded claim that cellist Sergei Roldugin’s offshore assets were linked to the Russian president.
Peskov, speaking to The Associated Press yesterday, emphasized that “there is not a word about President Putin in those papers,” and dismissed the alleged link between Russian owners of offshore assets and Putin as a “product of imagination.”
He said the scandal around the so-called Panama Papers has proven that Putin was right when he urged Russian businesses to pull out their assets from offshores.

UK: Corbyn calls for independent investigation
British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for an independent investigation into the tax affairs of people and companies accused of wrongdoing in the leak of the Panama Papers.
Labour leader Corbyn said yesterday the investigation should include a look at the finances of Prime Minister David Cameron and his family.
Corbyn spoke after the British press published extensive stories about Cameron’s late father setting up an offshore account at a tax haven.
He told reporters: “I think the prime minister, in his own interest, should tell us exactly what’s been going on.”
The information about Cameron’s father was first published several years ago.
Corbyn said the government should stop “pussyfooting” around and deal aggressively with tax havens.

Real Sociedad: Kovacevic amassed USD1.4 million on a USD2,000 salary
The Belgrade-based KRIK network investigating crime and corruption, which issued the list yesterday after going through documents leaked from the Panama-based law firm, says Darko Kovacevic had officially earned about $2,000 a month while playing for Spanish club Real Sociedad during the 2006-2007 season.
The leaked documents, however, show the club had paid Kovacevic $1.4 million that season to his offshore account. That means that both the club and Kovacevic had avoided paying full taxes in Spain, KRIK says.
Fashion designer Roksanda Ilincic had a firm in British Virgin Islands, KRIK says, adding that the ownership of a shell company is not a crime, but that it can be used for money laundering or evading taxes.

Icelandic PM resigns
Iceland’s embattled prime minister has resigned amid a controversy over his offshore holdings, a Cabinet minister said yesterday as outrage over the accounts roiled the North Atlantic island nation.
Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson is stepping down as leader of the country’s coalition government, Agriculture Minister Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson told Icelandic broadcaster RUV.
No replacement has yet been named, and Iceland’s president has not yet confirmed that he has accepted the resignation.
Thousands of Icelanders protested outside the parliament building in Reykjavik on Monday, demanding that Gunnlaugsson resign over reported offshore financial dealings by him and his wife that opposition lawmakers say amount to a major conflict of interest with his job.

Germany ministers proposes a national ‘transparency register’
Germany’s justice minister is proposing setting up a national “transparency register” that would list the real beneficiaries of letter-box companies — but only those set up in the country itself.
Heiko Maas’ proposal to expand national money-laundering legislation followed a massive leak of documents from a Panama-based law firm. German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported Tuesday that 28 German banks used the company’s services to set up or administer over 1,200 shell companies.
Maas conceded that German legislation could only apply to companies set up in Germany, which has pushed for tax havens to open up. He said: “Those who are pushing for this at the international level have to have corresponding national rules themselves.”
Maas added: “I can imagine many countries considering this.” AP