Pandora Papers: Jordan’s king denies impropriety in luxurious dwelling purchases

Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Monday denied any impropriety in his buy of luxurious houses overseas, citing safety wants for holding quiet concerning the transactions which might be reportedly value greater than $100 million. He mentioned no public funds had been used.
The remark by the Royal Palace comes a day after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reported that lots of of world leaders, highly effective politicians, billionaires, celebrities, spiritual leaders and drug sellers have been hiding their investments in mansions, unique beachfront property, yachts and different property for the previous quarter-century.

The report is predicated on a overview of almost 12 million information obtained from 14 corporations situated all over the world, the consortium mentioned. The report is being dubbed the “Pandora Papers” as a result of the findings make clear the beforehand hidden dealings of the elite and the corrupt, and the way they’ve used offshore accounts to protect property collectively value trillions of {dollars}.
For occasion, the investigation discovered advisers helped Jordan’s king arrange at the least three dozen shell firms from 1995 to 2017, serving to the monarch purchase 14 houses value greater than $106 million within the US and the UK One was a $23 million California ocean-view property purchased in 2017 by way of a British Virgin Islands firm. The advisers had been recognized as an English accountant in Switzerland and attorneys within the British Virgin Islands.

Abdullah denied any impropriety, citing safety wants for holding the transactions quiet and saying no public funds had been used.
“These properties are not publicized out of security and privacy concerns, and not out of secrecy or an attempt to hide them, as these reports have claimed,” the Royal Court assertion mentioned. “Measures to maintain privacy are crucial for a head of state of His Majesty’s position.”
The assertion described the consortium’s report on his actual property portfolio as a “flagrant security breach and a threat to His Majesty’s and his family’s safety.”
The particulars are an embarrassing blow to Abdullah, whose authorities was engulfed in scandal this yr when his half brother, former Crown Prince Hamzah, accused the “ruling system” of corruption and incompetence. The king claimed he was the sufferer of a “malicious plot,” positioned his half brother below home arrest and put two former shut aides on trial.