‘Pandora Papers’: Massive leak exposes offshore dealings of 35 world leaders

Leaked offshore financial records dubbed the “Pandora Papers” were published by major news outlets this weekend, exposing the secret assets and agreements from some of the world’s most wealthy and powerful leaders.

The leak contained nearly 12 million files from companies hired to set up offshore accounts in Panama, Dubai, Monaco, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, the Guardian said.

The Guardian reported that people named in the papers include 35 world leaders, 300 other public officials and more than 100 billionaires. Current and former presidents, prime ministers, judges, mayors, military generals and more are among those named.

The data was originally given to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in Washington, D.C.

ICIJ then distributed the information to organizations like the Guardian, BBC Panorama, Le Monde and The Washington Post. Since then, more than 600 journalists have investigated the contents of the papers in the largest data leak on record in terms of financial data volume, the Guardian said.