In 2021 the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published the Pandora Papers: 11.9 million documents, 2.9 terabytes, from 14 offshore service providers, with files dating from the 1970s to 2020. The leak exposed the offshore dealings of 35 current and former world leaders, more than 400 public officials from nearly 100 countries and over 100 billionaires, against an estimated $5.6 trillion to $32 trillion in global offshore wealth. Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš was found to have used an undeclared offshore company to buy £12 million of French Riviera property, and Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta, who demanded public asset declarations, was linked with six family members to 13 offshore companies.

The files showed how shell companies sever an asset from its owner. Azerbaijan’s ruling Aliyev family sold a London office block to the UK Crown Estate for £66 million, a £31 million profit, and another shell bought a £33 million property for President Ilham Aliyev’s 11-year-old son. Tony and Cherie Blair bought a £6.45 million London building by acquiring the British Virgin Islands company that owned it, legally avoiding £312,000 in stamp duty. The leak also put Panama’s Alcogal and U.S. trust states in the spotlight, and Panama responded by suspending half of its registered companies.

• Jordan’s King Abdullah II was revealed to own more than $100 million in homes in Malibu, Washington, London and Ascot through shell companies; Jordan called the reports distorted.
• Panamanian law firm Alcogal set up at least 14,000 shell companies and trusts, more than any other provider in the leak.
• Trusts in South Dakota, Nevada, Delaware, Florida and Texas held at least $1 billion for offshore clients.
• South Dakota law lets a settlor benefit from a trust while legally maintaining the assets are not theirs.
• Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman called the U.S. the largest tax haven, pointing to South Dakota.