More Shocks from the Pandora Papers: 6 Things Rulers Don’t Want You to Know
Extracts from the Pandora papers have revealed that ruling elites from almost every country in the Middle East have been linked to dodgy financial deals that involve millions and millions of dollars, pounds, and euros.
By: Isra Saleh / Arab America Contributing Writer
1. A £6.5 million office building in the UK
Pandora papers revealed how Zayed bin Rashid Alzayani, minister for tourism in Bahrain and the former secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, has been involved in a hidden transaction involving Tony Blair, former British prime minister, and his wife Cherie and a £6.5 million office building. The deal is revealed in the Pandora papers, a trove of leaked offshore documents. They reveal Alzayani as the secret shareholder of another offshore firm that has spent more than £60m buying UK commercial property over the past nine years, including the Marylebone address sold to the Blairs.
Zayed bin Rashid Alzayani led the first-ever trade delegation from the Kingdom of Bahrain to Israel. His country became the fourth Arab nation to formally normalize relations with Israel on September 11, 2020. Zayed bin Rashid Alzayani said, “I believe strongly that the continuity and prosperity of this peace should be filtering down to common citizens of Bahrain and Israel.”
This as the human rights situation in Bahrain did not improve in 2020. There are 27 individuals currently on death row, of whom 25 are at imminent risk of execution. The government has put six people to death since it ended a moratorium on executions in 2017. Authorities arrested, prosecuted, and harassed human rights defenders, journalists, opposition leaders, and defense lawyers, including for their social media activity. All independent Bahraini media have been banned since 2017 from operating in the country and all opposition groups dissolved, according to Human Rights Watch the latest world report.
This explains the lack of Bahraini media coverage of the Pandora Papers.
2. Panama-based offshore company in Monaco worth $10m
Reuters highlighted that Lebanese prime minister, Najib Mikati, former PM Hassan Diab, Lebanon’s central bank governor Riyad Salameh, amongst others, were involved in companies referenced within the Pandora Papers. Mikati denied in a statement that there was anything wrong in his conduct, whilst his country has yet to recover from an enduring political deadlock that has compounded Lebanon’s financial crisis, which the World Bank has described as one of the deepest depressions in modern history.
Three-quarters of the population has been forced into poverty and the currency has lost around 90% of its value in the past two years.
“Wealth is not necessarily accumulated at the expense of public interest and the needy,” Mikati’s statement said.
3. An $11 Million house in London
The sister of the King of Morocco, Lalla Hasnaa, purchased an $11 Million house in the upmarket area of Kensington, in London, using funds listed as belonging to the “Moroccan Royal Family”. This as poverty is widespread in the country as of 2021, the poverty rate was estimated to reach 3.6 percent, a slight increase compared to 2020 when it was measured at 3.3 percent. Poverty is one of the major issues in Morocco, more so due to the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In 2019, it was estimated that almost nine million Moroccans could be considered poor or threatened by poverty, according to the World Bank.
4. Luxury properties across Europe
As one of the most corrupt rulers in the region, involved in the kidnapping and disappearance of his own family members, it’s no surprise that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has been revealed to own a vast array of luxury properties across Europe through hidden corporations.
According to the Pandora Papers, Sheikh Mohammed secretly registered three companies in the tax havens of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and the Bahamas to carry out his dealings. These companies were registered by the Emirati company Axiom Limited, partly owned by Dubai Holding, a conglomerate at which Sheikh Mohammed is the major shareholder.
Sheikh Mohammed has yet to comment on Pandora Papers.
5. 14 luxurious properties in the US and the UK.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) reported that King Abdullah II of Jordan spent $106 Million on 14 luxury properties in the US and the UK. The King denies wrongdoing whilst millions of Jordanians are experiencing serious economic challenges.
6. A $300 million super-yacht
Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar hid his ownership of a $300 million super-yacht and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of offshore accounts through a convoluted ownership structure that involves his mother.
The leaked documents revealed that bin Jassim, whose net worth is estimated to stand at $1.3bn, used a complex chain of subsidiary companies and trusts in order to make investments and shield his family wealth from taxation. The BBC has found that they avoided £18.5m tax on London super-mansion.
The Qatari government did not respond to questions about the Pandora Paper’s findings.
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