Pandora Papers: SA figureheads will be named soon, says top journo

South African figureheads named in the Pandora Papers investigation will have to face the music in the coming weeks, according to a top South African investigative journalist.

Latashia Naidoo, one of the leads on the investigative project – which has been described as the “Panama Papers on steroids” – says the secrecy aspect is the biggest concern.

Pandora Papers

What are the Pandora Papers?

The Pandora Papers investigation — involving some 600 journalists — is based on the leak of some 11.9 million documents from 14 financial services companies around the world.

Some 35 current and former leaders are featured in the latest trove of documents analysed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

These figureheads could face charges ranging from corruption to money laundering and global tax avoidance.

Offshore investments

While it’s not illegal to invest offshore, it raises red flags when it’s done in secret. Naidoo said more stories will come to light in the coming weeks.

“What the Pandora Papers essentially focus on is these tax havens. Through these tax havens, we’re looking at shell companies which are the getaway vehicle for crime in the offshore world.”

Naidoo says the wealth mentioned in the reports is “not just a “couple of million dollars”.

We’re talking about trillions of dollars. […] These are stories that can’t be broken all at once.

Global resonance

She said it would have global resonance, and that “a lot of high-profile people, politicians, celebrities will have to face the music with regards to their so-called hidden wealth”.

“This investigation is larger and more global than the Panama Papers investigation. It provides more than twice as much information about the ownership of offshore companies.”

Naidoo said more than 29,000 offshore companies have been linked to the investigation, which she describes as unprecedented.

NOW READ: Kremlin rebuffs ‘unsubstantiated claims’ in Pandora Papers