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Over 1,400 Thai entities revealed in latest release of Panama Papers
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The building that the Mossack Fonseca law firm sits in, in Panama City. (Associated Press/Arnulfo Franco)
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s many as 1,413 celebrities, super-rich businessmen and familiar corporate names with Thai addresses have emerged in the latest release of the Panama Papers, dubbed as the world’s biggest-ever data leak.
These individuals and firms have been tied to offshore companies set up with the help of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca.
The names with Thai addresses in the latest release of data can be found on www.offshoreleaks.icij.org.
Earlier, the Anti-Money Laundering Organisation (AMLO) said that there were 16 unnamed Thai former politicians and businessmen on the list and that their financial activities were being investigated to see if they had violated the anti-money laundering law.
In addition, Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong said some Thai businessmen choose to keep their funds overseas in order to avoid paying hefty income taxes.
However, the anti-graft agency has called on the Revenue Department to follow up on the tax records of the individuals and firms named in the Panama papers.
AMLO said only money-laundering activities would be investigated, since not all offshore investments and companies are illegal.
It is understood that many businessmen use offshore firms to avoid paying large or redundant taxes, which is legitimate because many countries accept them as asset-management practices.
According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which published the online searchable database on Monday, there are nearly 214,000 offshore entities created in 21 jurisdictions around the world, from Nevada to Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands.
ICIJ said it is publishing the information in public interest, but it refuses to disclose raw documents or personal information en masse.
Though the huge database has information about company owners, proxies and intermediaries in these secret jurisdictions, it doesn’t reveal bank accounts, email exchanges or financial transactions.
So far, investigation has exposed the secret offshore holdings of 12 world leaders, over 128 other politicians and scores of fraudsters, drug traffickers and other criminals, according to ICIJ.
Earlier, the prime minister of Iceland had to resign under pressure due to the British Virgin Islands company he co-owned with his wife, while other world leaders such as the UK prime minister had to explain their secret holdings.
According to experts, the Panama Papers underscore the fundamental injustices and inequalities created by the offshore system.
“When taxes are evaded, when state assets are taken and put into these havens, all these things can have a tremendous negative effect on our mission to end poverty and boost prosperity,” Jim Yong Kim, the president of the World Bank, was quoted as saying.
US President Barack Obama, said the biggest problem was that many of the schemes revealed by the Panama Papers were legal. “It’s not that they’re breaking the laws, it’s that the laws are so poorly designed,” he said.
One solution is to create a centralised public registry of company owners as suggested by authorities in the US, Australia and Germany.
