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After the country was jolted by the mammoth revelations made in the Panama Papers, nearly a year and a half later, another expose has come out in the shape of Paradise Papers, revealing the world’s most powerful people and their offshore holdings.
A leak of 13.4 million files has been made under the Paradise Papers, which includes similar details to the Panama Papers which became the reason for the disqualification of Pakistan’s Ex-PM Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
In the Paradise Papers, some of the leading figures of the world, including Ex-Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz have been named. The leak also includes names of UK’s Queen Elizabeth, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Queen Noor of Jordan and three former Prime Ministers of Canada.
The biggest name, however, from Pakistan is Shaukat Aziz. Aziz was the finance minister during Musharraf’s era, who also served as the country’s Prime Minister from 2004 to 2007. According to ICIJ, “Shaukat Aziz set up the Antarctic Trust in the name of his wife, three children and granddaughter weeks before he came to Pakistan to lead the finance ministry.”
Umar Cheema, a journalist who works for the Jang Group and a member of the ICIJ further stated that Shaukat Aziz did not declare these assets during the documents he submitted from 2003-2006.
The ICIJ further added that “Appleby’s Bermuda office was the trust’s protector, acting as an independent overseer. In a 2012 internal memo, the law firm’s compliance officer noted that Aziz had been accused of the opposition of false declaration of assets, corruption, and misappropriation of funds.”
With the disqualification and ousting of Ex-PM Nawaz, leaks like these have become extremely important in the country’s bid to control corruption and offshore holding. It would be interesting to see how the judiciary of the country handles this particular case with Shaukat Aziz not living or having to do anything with the country’s affairs in over 10 years.
