New Delhi: An investigation conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) claimed that many prominent members of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government and donors to the party along with family of the country’s powerful military generals have moved millions of dollars of wealth through offshore companies.
Khan came in power in 2018 and promised to eliminate Pakistan’s “corrupt” political elites. However, he was also personally named in the newly leaked documents in the Pandora Papers released late on Sunday.
The ICIJ’s investigation is based on over 11.9 million confidential documents and files leaked from 14 offshore financial services firms and it indicates that two members of Pakistan PM’s cabinet including Water Resources Minister Moonis Elahi and Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin were prominent in the leaks while over 700 other Pakistani citizens, including family members of several high-ranking military officials linked in this investigation.
“We welcome the Pandora Papers exposing the ill-gotten wealth of elites, accumulated through tax evasion & corruption & laundered out to financial “havens”. The UN SG’s Panel FACTI calculated a staggering $7 trillion in stolen assets parked in largely offshore tax havens,” Khan said in a tweet.