Eight people in Pandora Papers used Bangladesh address to open firms in tax haven

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists or ICIJ has released another trove of leaked data in its Pandora Papers investigation where eight people used Bangladesh as their address to open companies in the British Virgin Islands, known as a tax haven.

They are Nihad Kabir, Mohammad Bhai, Islam Manzurul, Sayedul Huda Chowdhury, Anita Rani Bhowmik, Sakina Miraly, Walter Pollak, and Daniel Ernesto Lubatti.

They are among 740,000 people named in the data released on Monday night.

Nihad Kabir’s address is mentioned Indira Road in Dhaka. Nihad registered a company named Capital Fair Holding Ltd in the British Virgin Islands in 2008.

bdnews24.com approached the Bangladeshi lawyer and businesswoman to verify whether she is the person named in the leaked documents but she did not take phone calls.

Mohammad Bhai, Islam Manzurul, Sayedul Huda, and Sakina stated Gulshan as their address while Anita used Chawkbazar.

Islam Manzurul also used the UK as his address, Pollak used Russia and Iubatti used Argentina.

Mohammad Bhai owns 1936 Holdings Ltd, Sakina owns Moonraker Services Corp, Anita owns Anteris Holdings Ltd, Manzurul owns Oriental Agri Chemical Company, Sayedul owns Beben International, Pollak owns Flint Enterprises SA, and Iubatti owns Kudell Ltd.

Dubbed the “biggest” and “unprecedented”, Pandora Papers includes 11.9m files from companies hired by wealthy clients to create offshore structures and trusts in tax havens such as Panama, Dubai, Monaco, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.

The leaked records reveal that many of the power players who could help bring an end to the offshore system instead benefit from it – stashing assets in covert companies and trusts while their governments do little to slow a global stream of illicit money that enriches criminals and impoverishes nations.

The first tranche of Pandora Papers uncovered the financial secrets of 35 current and former world leaders, more than 330 politicians and public officials in 91 countries and territories, and a global lineup of fugitives, con artists and murderers.

The investigation exposed offshore dealings of the King of Jordan, the presidents of Ukraine, Kenya and Ecuador, the prime minister of the Czech Republic and former British prime minister Tony Blair. The files also detailed the financial activities of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “unofficial minister of propaganda” and more than 130 billionaires from Russia, the United States, Turkey and other nations.

The latest revelation comes a day after the High Court asked the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit and police’s Criminal Investigation Department to provide an account of the steps that have been taken, if any, against the individuals and companies implicated in the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers, previous investigations by ICIJ. 

The Anti-Corruption Commission earlier this week submitted to the court a list of 43 people named in Panama Papers and Paradise Papers, the leaked documents that showed how the wealthy across the world stash away funds in tax havens to evade taxes through legal loopholes.