The database contains ownership information about companies created in 10 offshore jurisdictions including the British Virgin Islands, the Cook Islands and Singapore. It covers nearly 30 years until 2010.
The world is pretty much aware of the massively leaked document database called Panama Papers. There are over 2.5million files in this database and these files have been analyzed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) along with 112 reporters from 58 different countries.
The trail has gone viral now and the searchable database (official link) is massive, no wonder why it is being termed as one amongst the world’s biggest collection of leaked documents. Panama Papers is certainly a treasure trove of leaked data however, we are still wondering is that how could they keep it hidden for so long.
You can now search Panama papers on a websiteThe documents contain a complicated yet huge collection of corporate ownership details that is not limited to any specific part of the world, it covers the entire globe. It has been identified that the ICIJ analyzed these leaked documents for around fifteen months after which they were able to form links between the various offshore units.
It must be noted that the dumped data is just a trailer while the full picture is yet to be released. The documents only describe details of the links between offshore units, individuals and the subsequent companies that were formed.
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You may consider it as a searchable corporate archive the only difference is that it comprises of hundreds of thousands of personalities, the companies that they own and the complex network that has been created over time within the world. The papers were leaked for the first time in April this year while the data was taken from the servers of a Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonesca.
One might wonder, how these links can be used to prove the fact that the companies that have been named in the Panama leaks were actually trying to hide their endless wealth overseas under the alibi of offshore companies. Because currently it hasn’t been proven if these entities were acting illegally as John Doe, the person responsible for the leaks admitted that “it doesn’t take much to connect the dots.”