Paradise Papers leak exposes tax secrets of the world’s ultra-rich

13.4m documents about offshore finance have been leaked.

The Queen, close allies of Donald Trump, the owners of Arsenal and Everton - Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri - and companies like Apple, Nike, Twitter, and Facebook have had information about their finances leaked following a major new investigation into Britain’s offshore empires. The material comes from two offshore service providers with 13.4m files pertaining to investments that were made into offshore accounts in 19 tax havens. As reported by the BBC, "the documents were obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which called in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) to oversee the investigation." The majority of the data comes from a company called Appleby, a Bermuda-based legal services provider. The most pertinent information is as follows:

• While not illegal, about £10m ($13m) from the Queen’s private estate has been invested in a Cayman Islands fund. This money was lodged into these accounts by the Duchy of Lancaster, which provides the Queen with an income and handles investments.
• There are various dealings which feature Donald Trump’s cabinet members, advisers, and donors. In fact, there's a history of payments being made from a firm that's co-owned by Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law to the shipping group of the US commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross.
• Twiter and Facebook have received large financial contributions from various Russian state financial institutions.
• Stephen Bronfman, a key adviser to Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, moved of millions of dollars to offshore havens.
• Complexities and close ties between two of the largest stakeholders in Arsenal and Everton, Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri.
• Famous Hollywood celebrities and entertainers protecting their wealth via offshore schemes.
• Nike, Apple, Facebook and Twitter pursuing tax avoidance schemes.
• $450m offshore trust that has protected the wealth of Lord Ashcroft.

Full details and an intricate breakdown of the leaks can be found here.