Several world leaders have denied any wrongdoing after a huge leak of documents revealed the secret financial dealings of the global elite.
The Pandora Papers investigation, which involved a consortium of some 600 journalists from a variety of global media outlets, is based on the leak of some 11.9 million documents from 14 financial services companies around the globe.
Among those named in the files are associates of Russian president Vladimir Putin, King Abdullah of Jordan, and Czech prime minister Andrej Babis. All three have issued statements claiming they have done nothing wrong.
“For now it is just not clear what this information is and what it is about,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that “we didn’t see any hidden wealth of Putin’s inner circle in there”.
King Abdullah said claims he used offshore accounts to disguise a £70m hidden property empire were “defamatory and designed to target Jordan’s reputation”.
“Any allegations that link these private properties to public funds or assistance are baseless and deliberate attempts to distort facts,” a statement from the Royal Hashemite Court said on Monday.
Meanwhile on Twitter, Mr Babis said he had done nothing “illegal or wrong” and suggested the leaks were an attempt to “influence the Czech election”, which takes place next week.
