Pandora papers news – live: World leaders deny wrongdoing after huge leak of financial documents

The European Union must do more to combat tax evasion, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said.

Speaking during a visit to Helsinki, Ms von der Leyen said that tax evasion and aggressive tax planning was “completely unacceptable” following the leak of the Pandora Papers.

“We have in the European Union some of the highest tax transparency standards in the world, but as we see it’s not enough, more work is needed”, she said.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a network of reporters and media organisations, said the documents link about 35 current and former national leaders and more than 330 politicians and officials in 91 countries and territories to secret stores of wealth.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II has said claims he used offshore accounts to disguise a £70 million hidden property empire were “defamatory and designed to target Jordan’s reputation”, writes Bel Trew.

However, it comes as the monarch faces mounting scrutiny for lavish spending while also asking foreign aid to pull his cash-strapped country out of a recession.

The damning reports, released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, claim the king used a network of secretly-owned firms to spend than $100 million (£70 million) on property in the UK and US, including houses in Malibu as well as luxury apartments in Washington DC, central London and Ascot.

It comes as King Abdullah’s popularity had taken a hit after his half-brother accused the country’s leadership of corruption.

“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 Monday.

“Such allegations are defamatory and designed to target Jordan’s reputation as well as His Majesty’s credibility.”

The US state of South Dakota is sheltering billions of dollars of wealth being moved around in trust funds, according to documents in the Pandora papers.

The Guardian, one of a variety of media outlets to publish the documents, cites a state report which details a trust industry worth £273bn in assets in the state.

The newspaper reported that the files proved that the midwestern state now rivalled jurisdictions in Europe and the Caribbean for financial secrecy. Trusts allow investors to avoid or greatly reduce taxation.

South Dakota is named as the most popular location for wealthy individuals to set up trust funds, with 81 in total. Florida and Delaware are in second and third place, with 37 and 33 respectively.

Customer assets in South Dakota trusts have more than quadrupled over the past decade to $360 billion, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has called for an investigation into more than 3,000 Mexicans who allegedly hit assets in offshore tax havens.

It came after a string of world leaders and politicians, including a minister in Mr Obrador’s government, were named in the leaked Pandora Papers.

“There must be an investigation” to see if taxes were paid”, Mr Obrador told reporters on Monday.

“It is good that this is being made transparent and that the relevant authorities will act if there are crimes to be prosecuted.”

Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit, which monitors financial crime, has also promised an investigation in response to the leaked documents.

A petition set up by a taxation campaign group seeking to close tax loopholes is close to receiving 35,000 signatures.

Tax Justice UK, an advocacy group for fairer taxation, said it had surpassed its target of more than 20,000 signatures in a day.

They urged members of the public to sign their petition “to close tax loopholes for the rich and powerful”.

Reacting to the leak of the Pandora Papers, Robert Palmer, the director of Tax Justice UK, told TalkRadio: “These leaks are about a system that has been designed and implemented by politicians.”.

The United States is reviewing findings of leaked financial documents known as the Pandora Papers, State Department spokesman Ned Price has said.

However, Mr Price told a news briefing that he would not comment on specific cases.

The Papers did not implicate any major US businesses or political figures, though they did reveal the extent to which investors have made use of trust funds in states such as South Dakota or Delaware.

South Dakota and Nevada “adopted financial secrecy laws that rival those of offshore jurisdictions”, researchers wrote, according to NPR, which noted the “explosive” growth of such schemes in the US.

Additional reporting by the Reuters news agency.

King Abdullah of Jordan has said he has “nothing to hide” following leaks of financial documents that showed he used offshore accounts to buy expensive properties abroad.

His comments came after a statement from the palace reacting to the Pandora Papers said the properties he acquired were not a secret but were not disclosed for reasons of privacy and security.

“Any allegations that link these private properties to public funds are baseless and deliberate attempts to distort facts,” the palace statement said

In a previously scheduled visit to an outlying provincial area where he met tribal leaders, Abdullah attacked those whom he accused of seeking to “sow discord and ferment doubt among us.”

He added: “There is nothing I have to hide from anyone but we are stronger than this and this is not the first time people target Jordan”.

The White House says President Biden is committed to bringing “transparency” to the US and global financial systems following the leak of the Pandora Papers.

Press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters: “The President has pledged to work with partners and allies to address issues such as the abuse of shell companies and money laundering through real estate transactions, which was a part of this reporting.

“If you look at the President’s proposals in the Build Back Better agenda, he has been clear he wants to make the tax system more fair.

“He wants to crack down on people who are not paying their fair share, whether they are businesses or individuals. It is central to his policies.”

Montenegro’s President Milo Djukanovic has denied wrongdoing after the Pandora Papers leak claimed that he and his son allegedly established a trust and hid their wealth in a complicated network of companies.

Mr Djukanovic’s office admitted that he did establish a business trust with his son in 2012, while not in office.

However, after he became the prime minister later the same year, Mr Djukanovic transferred all the rights to his son, they added. While Djukanovic was one of the owners there had been no business transactions, his office said.

Montenegro is now seeking European Union membership and Mr Djukanovic is seen as a key Western ally.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press.

The Pandora Papers leak shows that there is “one rule for the rich and another for ordinary people”, a senior official at Oxfam has said.

Max Lawson, head of inequality policy at Oxfam International, told BBC World News that he hoped that the investigation would lead to policies aimed at curbing the secretive financial dealings of the global elite.

He said: “We have a situation where the richest people on Earth are paying lower taxes than a nurse or a cleaner.

“We need that money, we can’t have it tied up in dusty vaults in the Bahamas, in these secret spaces. We need to liberate that cash, spend it on schools and hospitals.

“Hopefully this exposé pushes further in that direction.”