Last year's Panama Papers revealed the business dealings of some very powerful people, including former UK Prime Minister David Cameron. But a new treasure trove of information has been released, dubbed the Paradise Papers.
Nearly thirteen and a half million documents are contained in this latest leak, becoming the second largest of its kind, second to the Panama Papers. The details have come from law firm Appleby, which has outposts in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey.
The first people to see the documents were reporters from German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, who were also the first to look at the Panama Papers. But they've since been released it to nearly 100 media organisations to share the load of looking through all the information.
One of the interesting figures named in the Paradise Papers is the Queen.
Credit: PA
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The Queen's more than £500 million estate is handled by
the Duchy of Lancaster and was set up in 1399. It reports the various financial
returns made on behalf of the Queen, however the Guardian explains the Paradise Papers reveal some of
the offshore arrangements that aren't shown in the annual statements.
There's nothing illegal in Her Majesty's roughly £10 million investment of private money in an offshore account, but as the BBC notes, questions might arise as to why the Queen is sending a lot of cash overseas.
Several members of US President Trump's cabinet have also been named in the documents.
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Information shows Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has interests in a shipping company that transports oil and gas for a Russian energy firm.
Credit: PA
That will only focus the spotlight on the Trump administration in regards to allegations of connections with Russia, especially considering the Paradise Papers reveal some of the shareholders of that Russian company include Vladimir Putin's son-in-law and two men who have US sanctions imposed on them.
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Others named in the information leak include Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Trump's chief economic advisor Cary Cohn and Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin.
President Trump has been campaigning to get tax reforms through Congress to
bring back 'trillions of dollars from offshore'. It will be interesting to see
how the revelations that some of his closest colleagues have put huge sums of
money in tax havens will play out.
Appleby has issued a statement about the huge cache, saying: "[It is] satisfied that there is no evidence of any wrongdoing, either on the part of ourselves or our clients. We do not tolerate illegal behaviour."
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Topics: World News, uk news, US News