https://www.scmp.com/rss/322424/feed The Panama Papers are a trove of 11.5 million documents leaked from law firm Mossack Fonseca in April 2016, revealing the secret financial dealings of the world's rich and powerful. Forty years of emails and financial records showed how politicians, tycoons and celebrities stashed their cash in anonymous offshore bank accounts in one of the biggest leaks of insider information in history. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Hu Dehua, son of the former Chinese leader Hu Yaobang, has died at the age of 76. He died on Sunday in Beijing due to a heart attack, sources told the South China Morning Post. Hu was a liberal businessman who repeatedly spoke out for political reform and press freedom in China – rare among the descendants of the Communist Party’s early top officials, a group known as “princelings”. In 2016, he became vice-director of the outspoken magazine Yanhuang Chunqiu. But he was in the role for less than... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3304622/hu-dehua-son-former-liberal-chinese-leader-hu-yaobang-dies-76?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3304622/hu-dehua-son-former-liberal-chinese-leader-hu-yaobang-dies-76?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 31 Mar 2025 13:27:01 +0000 Panamanian lawyer Ramon Fonseca, one of the heads of the now-defunct law firm Mossack Fonseca that was at the epicentre of the global “Panama Papers” scandal, died while awaiting sentencing in his money-laundering trial, his lawyer said Thursday. During the night, Fonseca “died while hospitalised”, a member of his legal team said, adding that the health concerns were “why he did not attend the trial” that opened on April 8. No further details were given about the cause of death of Fonseca, 71,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3262076/panama-papers-law-firm-co-founder-ramon-fonseca-dies-hospital-lawyer-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3262076/panama-papers-law-firm-co-founder-ramon-fonseca-dies-hospital-lawyer-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 May 2024 13:11:57 +0000 The trial of 27 people charged in connection with the worldwide Panama Papers money laundering started on Monday in a Panamanian criminal court. Those on trial include the owners of the Mossack-Fonseca law firm that was at the heart of the 2016 massive document leak. The Panama Papers include a collection of 11 million secret financial documents that illustrate how some of the world’s richest people hide their money. Malaysia’s anti-corruption agency orders ex-PM Mahathir’s son to declare... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3258290/panama-papers-trial-starts-27-people-charged-worldwide-money-laundering-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3258290/panama-papers-trial-starts-27-people-charged-worldwide-money-laundering-case?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Apr 2024 21:50:22 +0000 Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s two eldest sons, Mirzan and Mokhzani on Thursday pleaded for patience from Malaysia’s anti-graft body, which the brothers say has demanded “an impossible endeavour” of an asset declaration of holdings going back to 1981, the year their father first came to power. The pair, both multimillionaire businessmen, are embroiled in an anti-corruption probe that has already seen the 98-year-old Mahathir’s close ally, former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, charged... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3251454/mahathirs-sons-seek-patience-malaysias-anti-graft-body-amid-impossible-endeavour-digging-through?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3251454/mahathirs-sons-seek-patience-malaysias-anti-graft-body-amid-impossible-endeavour-digging-through?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Feb 2024 15:17:05 +0000 Be it a vendetta or a pre-emptive strike against rivals who are determined to derail his government, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim appears to have made his move with a corruption purge aimed at the powerful clans of Mahathir Mohamad and Daim Zainuddin. Now he has to stay the course, analysts and political insiders say, and hope a public frazzled by years of destabilising back-room political manoeuvres – and enraged by corruption – rallies behind his 14-month-old administration. Anwar,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3250749/malaysias-anti-corruption-net-tightens-around-anwars-rivals-after-decades-bad-blood-its-smart-move?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3250749/malaysias-anti-corruption-net-tightens-around-anwars-rivals-after-decades-bad-blood-its-smart-move?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Feb 2024 00:00:14 +0000 Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar will become Malaysia’s king later this week, with experts anticipating the royal institution will play a pivotal role in supporting the government, as a potentially explosive corruption investigation billows out across parts of the political and business elite. The ruler of the southern state of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim begins his term as king on Wednesday at a time when the constitutional monarch faces heightened public expectations to broker political stability between... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3250145/malaysias-vocal-new-king-bring-scrutiny-anwars-government-amid-clamour-political-stability?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3250145/malaysias-vocal-new-king-bring-scrutiny-anwars-government-amid-clamour-political-stability?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Jan 2024 10:00:32 +0000 Malaysia’s ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad on Monday challenged the government to charge him and drop probes into his son and key associates as a graft crackdown continues to tangle up political rivals of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) last week (January 18) ordered Mirzan Mahathir, the eldest son of the two-time premier, to declare his domestic and overseas assets within 30 days. The order was part of investigations into the sale and purchase of some... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3249355/malaysias-mahathir-slams-anwar-over-corruption-probe-against-son-mirzan-challenges-government-charge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3249355/malaysias-mahathir-slams-anwar-over-corruption-probe-against-son-mirzan-challenges-government-charge?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Jan 2024 09:26:26 +0000 Malaysia’s anti-graft body on Thursday ordered Mirzan Mahathir, the son of former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad, to declare his assets within 30 days, as corruption probes strike bitter rivals of current prime minister Anwar Ibrahim. Mirzan, 66, is the eldest son of two-time prime minister Mahathir, the 98-year-old who was once a mentor to Anwar, but later jailed him after a rancorous political split. The Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) issued a 30-day ultimatum for Mirzan to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3248967/malaysias-anti-corruption-agency-orders-ex-pm-mahathirs-son-declare-assets-amid-widening-probe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3248967/malaysias-anti-corruption-agency-orders-ex-pm-mahathirs-son-declare-assets-amid-widening-probe?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Jan 2024 13:50:16 +0000 The ousting of Prime Minister Imran Khan in a parliamentary no-confidence vote early on Sunday set Pakistan on an uncertain political path, with his supporters taking to the streets in protest and the political opposition preparing to install his replacement. Tens of thousands of Khan supporters marched in cities across Pakistan, waving large party flags and vowing support. The youth, who make up the backbone of Khan’s supporters, dominated the crowds. In the southern Arabian Sea port city of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3173792/ousting-imran-khan-sets-pakistan-uncertain-political-path?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3173792/ousting-imran-khan-sets-pakistan-uncertain-political-path?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Apr 2022 22:55:00 +0000 Pakistan’s political opposition ousted the country’s embattled prime minister in a no-confidence vote on Saturday, which they won after several of Imran Khan’s allies and a key coalition party deserted him. The combined opposition that spans the political spectrum from the left to the radically religious will form the new government, with the head of one of the largest parties, the Pakistani Muslim League, taking over as prime minister. Anticipating his loss, Khan, who charged his opposition... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3173721/pakistans-prime-minister-imran-khan-ousted-no-confidence-vote?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3173721/pakistans-prime-minister-imran-khan-ousted-no-confidence-vote?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Apr 2022 20:43:13 +0000 Hong Kong had a “very robust declaration of interests system”, city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said on Tuesday, when asked about media reports on her predecessor’s public financial disclosures based on the Pandora Papers, the biggest leak yet of data about tax haven secrecy. Stand News reported on Monday that Lam’s predecessor, Leung Chun-ying, had conducted business through two offshore companies and sold his 30 per cent stake in DTZ Japan for HK$2.3 million in 2015. But Leung strongly... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3151261/hong-kong-leader-defends-disclosure-regime-senior-officials?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3151261/hong-kong-leader-defends-disclosure-regime-senior-officials?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Oct 2021 09:36:20 +0000 The Czech prime minister, the king of Jordan and the chairman of a well-known Indian conglomerate were among global figures denying wrongdoing on Monday after the leak of what major news outlets called a secret trove of documents about offshore finance. India said it would investigate cases linked to the data dump, known collectively as the “Pandora Papers”, while Pakistani Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said officials named in the documents would be investigated – including himself. The Kremlin... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3151191/pandora-papers-rich-and-powerful-scramble-deny-wrongdoing-limit-damage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3151191/pandora-papers-rich-and-powerful-scramble-deny-wrongdoing-limit-damage?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Oct 2021 21:56:07 +0000 An unprecedented leak of financial records known as the Pandora Papers has revealed the offshore financial assets of dozens of current and former world leaders and hundreds of politicians from Asia and the Middle East to Latin America. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) obtained 11.9 million confidential documents from 14 separate legal and financial services firms, which the group said offered “a sweeping look at an industry that helps the world’s ultrawealthy,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3151100/biggest-revelations-pandora-papers-leak?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3151100/biggest-revelations-pandora-papers-leak?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Oct 2021 06:11:01 +0000 Malta should take responsibility for the 2017 murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia as it created “an atmosphere of impunity” that risked her life, a public inquiry concluded. The October 2017 car-bomb killing of Caruana Galizia, who exposed cronyism and sleaze within Malta’s political and business elite, sparked international outrage and protests that forced the resignation of former prime minister Joseph Muscat. A panel of three judges wrote in a 437-page report that... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3143081/malta-government-responsible-murder-panama-papers-journalist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3143081/malta-government-responsible-murder-panama-papers-journalist?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jul 2021 20:17:45 +0000 When Gilbert Mvondo was hired to cut roads through pristine Cameroonian rainforest in 2015, he did so expecting to be paid. He had been recruited, along with a number of other residents of Meyomessala – birthplace of Cameroon’s President Paul Biya – to prepare the ground for representatives of the prime minister’s office and the Trade Park Corporation, a little-known but well-connected firm with a registered address in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district. The Hong Kong company had promised to create... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3040626/leak-reveals-hong-kong-firms-failed-multimillion-dollar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3040626/leak-reveals-hong-kong-firms-failed-multimillion-dollar?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Dec 2019 00:02:43 +0000 Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has told an audience at the launch of a Hong Kong-backed property firm that foreigners preying on indebted gamblers in his country would be caught “dead or alive”. Crimes involving Chinese nationals and syndicates have surged under Duterte’s administration. “There are foreigners who come here to play their trade, lending money, and if the debtor cannot pay, they kidnap and sometimes they ask for a ransom,” he said. “And even with the delivery of the money ...... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3030510/casino-kidnappers-philippines-will-be-caught-dead-or-alive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3030510/casino-kidnappers-philippines-will-be-caught-dead-or-alive?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Sep 2019 11:21:19 +0000 The European Parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted for rules aimed at protecting whistle-blowers from reprisals in the wake of corporate scandals such as Dieselgate and Cambridge Analytica. With 591 votes in favour, 29 against and 33 abstentions, the parliament backed rules to boost the fight against fraud, corruption, corporate tax avoidance and damage to people’s health and the environment. Recent corporate scandals “have helped to shine a light on the great precariousness that... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3006462/european-parliament-overwhelmingly-backs-rules-protect-whistle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3006462/european-parliament-overwhelmingly-backs-rules-protect-whistle?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Apr 2019 14:33:37 +0000 Who would dream of putting an end to the culture of secrecy shielding multinational companies’ account books and fortunes hidden in tax havens? There are the usual suspects, of course: tax activists including academics, churches and trade unions, who are up in arms over revelations from the likes of the Panama Papers or Paradise Papers. But not only them. A recent consultation exercise by the Global Reporting Initiative reveals that the strongest advocates of tax transparency may be investment... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3005484/tax-justice-all-one-solution-poverty-rising-inequality-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3005484/tax-justice-all-one-solution-poverty-rising-inequality-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Apr 2019 06:00:04 +0000 German prosecutors raided several Deutsche Bank offices in the Frankfurt area Thursday over suspicions of money laundering based on revelations from the 2016 “Panama Papers” data leak. Frankfurt prosecutors said they were investigating allegations that Germany’s biggest lender helped clients set up offshore companies in tax havens to “transfer money from criminal activities” to Deutsche Bank accounts. The latest raid was a new blow to the financial institution that has been hammered by a string... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2175689/german-police-raid-deutsche-bank-offices-panama-papers-probe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2175689/german-police-raid-deutsche-bank-offices-panama-papers-probe?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Nov 2018 12:57:01 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg Malta’s prime minister is doubling down on the booming blockchain industry in a bid to diversify the European Union’s smallest economy -- and to even fight corruption. “We’re taking a calculated risk,” Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said in an interview on Monday, by cutting “layers of bureaucracy” and offering fast-track approvals for digital players to set up shop on the island. With tax rates as low as 5 percent, the government recently passed laws that seek to ease the trading and issuance of... https://www.scmp.com/tech/blockchain/article/2163639/sun-sea-and-blockchain-mediterranean-maltas-bid-become-haven?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/blockchain/article/2163639/sun-sea-and-blockchain-mediterranean-maltas-bid-become-haven?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Sep 2018 00:50:26 +0000 Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison by a corruption court in Islamabad Friday, lawyers said, dealing a serious blow to his party’s troubled campaign ahead of July 25 elections. Sharif was ousted from his third term as prime minister by the Supreme Court last year following a corruption investigation. “[Sharif] has been awarded 10 years imprisonment and an £8 million (US$10 million) fine” over the purchase of high-end properties in London,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2154158/former-pakistani-prime-minister-nawaz-sharif-sentenced-10-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2154158/former-pakistani-prime-minister-nawaz-sharif-sentenced-10-years?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Jul 2018 12:28:42 +0000 A newly released tranche of documents among the so-called “Panama Papers” appears to show some Japanese were unwittingly registered as representatives of companies in a Caribbean tax haven via leaked passport information. The companies operated Japanese-language dating websites and were registered in Anguilla, a British overseas territory. They apparently used the names of Japanese people without their permission to dodge responsibility in case of trouble. Like the initial massive document leak... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2151766/passport-mystery-japanese-men-discover-theyre-company-reps?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2151766/passport-mystery-japanese-men-discover-theyre-company-reps?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Jun 2018 04:29:04 +0000 Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite by Jake Bernstein Henry Holt 3 stars In the days after the events of September 11, 2001, it became clear to intelligence agencies that tracking the funds of terrorist groups and individuals was one of the most powerful tools at their disposal. Thus, “follow the money,” a Watergate-era dictum, acquired renewed relevance in the 21st century. Monitoring money flows would not only allow those... https://www.scmp.com/culture/books/article/2130040/inside-panama-papers-investigation-elites-hidden-wealth-new-book?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/books/article/2130040/inside-panama-papers-investigation-elites-hidden-wealth-new-book?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Jan 2018 12:04:17 +0000 The Macau government has strongly denied the city is a tax haven after the European Union put the former Portuguese enclave on a blacklist of those it deems guilty of unfairly offering tax avoidance schemes. A spokesman for the Macau government on Wednesday called the blacklisting “unilateral and one-sided” and did not speak the truth to the city’s reality. “[The government] reiterates that [Macau] is definitely not a so called tax-avoidance port or tax haven,” he said. The spokesman said the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2123058/eu-puts-macau-blacklist-17-tax-avoidance-havens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2123058/eu-puts-macau-blacklist-17-tax-avoidance-havens?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Dec 2017 01:58:23 +0000 Maltese authorities announced on Monday they have arrested 10 people in connection with the murder of a prominent journalist that sent shock waves around the world. Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed in a car-bomb attack on October 16, was one of the Mediterranean island’s most prominent public figures thanks to a widely read blog she used to campaign against corruption. Her most explosive reports included allegations members of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s inner circle benefited from... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2122809/malta-police-arrest-eight-suspects-car-bomb-murder-blogger-daphne?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2122809/malta-police-arrest-eight-suspects-car-bomb-murder-blogger-daphne?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Dec 2017 09:38:39 +0000 US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has business ties to a shipping firm linked to Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, according to a vast leak of financial documents that also revealed Britain’s Queen Elizabeth’s investments in tax havens. And it revealed that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s top fundraiser and senior adviser Stephen Bronfman, heir to the Seagram fortune, moved some US$60 million to offshore tax havens with ex-senator Leo Kolber. The details come from a leak of 13.4 million... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/2118524/after-panama-papers-new-paradise-papers-leak-reveals-secrets-world-elites?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/2118524/after-panama-papers-new-paradise-papers-leak-reveals-secrets-world-elites?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Nov 2017 00:47:43 +0000 Iceland’s conservative prime minister on Sunday looked set to try to form a new government after winning the general election, but it was unclear whether he could secure a viable coalition. With 81 per cent of votes counted at 1000 GMT, no party could claim a majority after Saturday’s snap vote, and it could take days, weeks, or even months before Iceland has a new government in place as thorny coalition negotiations await. Despite being embroiled in a series of scandals, Prime Minister Bjarni... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2117520/iceland-pm-poised-win-despite-panama-papers-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2117520/iceland-pm-poised-win-despite-panama-papers-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Oct 2017 13:29:25 +0000 A Pakistani court on Thursday issued arrest warrants for ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif in two cases of corruption spiralling from the Panama Papers leak, his lawyers said. Sharif is currently in London with his wife Kalsum as she undergoes cancer treatment, and has not returned to Pakistan since he was indicted in the corruption allegations earlier this month, despite reports he would do so. “The accountability court issued bailable warrants for the former prime minister in two cases of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2117086/pakistan-court-issues-arrest-warrant-ex-pm-nawaz-sharif-he?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2117086/pakistan-court-issues-arrest-warrant-ex-pm-nawaz-sharif-he?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Oct 2017 06:34:02 +0000 Maltese authorities faced mounting pressure Thursday to ensure an independent investigation into the slaying of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was known for her fearless reporting on corruption in the small Mediterranean island nation. The 53-year-old journalist’s three grown sons called on Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to resign, saying he should take political responsibility for “failing to uphold our fundamental freedoms” by not rooting out corruption. A group of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2116251/sons-slain-journalist-call-malta-leaders-resignation-un-demands?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2116251/sons-slain-journalist-call-malta-leaders-resignation-un-demands?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Oct 2017 06:02:50 +0000 A Pakistani anti-corruption court on Thursday indicted ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter over allegations linked to ownership of London properties, opening a trial that could see the former leader jailed. The Sharifs have called the corruption proceedings against them a conspiracy, hinting at intervention by the powerful military, but opponents have hailed it as a rare example of the rich and powerful being held accountable. Sharif, 67, resigned in July after the Supreme Court... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2116133/pakistani-anti-corruption-court-charges-ousted-pm-sharif-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2116133/pakistani-anti-corruption-court-charges-ousted-pm-sharif-after?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Oct 2017 09:41:02 +0000 Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat described murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia Wednesday as “his biggest adversary” but vowed to track down and bring her killers to justice. The centre-left premier, who was accused by the blogger’s son on Tuesday of being complicit in his mother’s death, attempted to shift the spotlight onto the main opposition Nationalist Party, saying it had been the focus of Caruana Galizia’s latest investigations. “It is unthinkable in a country like Malta to die... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2115928/malta-pm-says-murdered-journalist-was-his-biggest-adversary-vows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2115928/malta-pm-says-murdered-journalist-was-his-biggest-adversary-vows?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Oct 2017 09:29:55 +0000 Daphne Caruana Galizia, an investigative journalist and blogger from Malta who was known for her reporting on governmental corruption, was killed in a bomb explosion near her home on Monday. Galizia, 53, who had published a story on her blog just minutes earlier, was driving away from her rural home in Bidnija in a rented Peugeot 108 at around 3pm when the car went up in flames, according to local media reports. Photos showed the car’s mangled shell in a field, dozens of metres away from the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2115644/malta-car-bomb-kills-star-investigative-journalist-who-reported?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2115644/malta-car-bomb-kills-star-investigative-journalist-who-reported?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Oct 2017 01:24:37 +0000 The wife of Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif appeared to have won the parliamentary seat vacated by her husband following his disqualification by the Supreme Court from holding public office. Victory by Kulsoom Sharif, who is currently receiving medical treatment in London, was declared by her daughter Sunday in front of supporters at the head office of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party in Lahore. “Nawaz Sharif has won” against the court decision disqualifying him,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2111637/pakistan-ex-pms-wife-wins-his-parliament-seat-hospital-bed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2111637/pakistan-ex-pms-wife-wins-his-parliament-seat-hospital-bed?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Sep 2017 05:20:07 +0000 The Bangkok billionaire family that co-founded Red Bull, the world’s leading energy drink, uses offshore companies to cloak purchases of jets and luxury properties, including the posh London home where the clan’s fugitive son was last seen. The Yoovidhya family’s efforts to hide assets show how easily major global financial players can routinely – and, usually, legally – move billions of dollars with little or no oversight. The family’s confidential deals were inadvertently exposed by the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2107208/how-super-rich-thai-family-co-founded-red-bull-conceals-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2107208/how-super-rich-thai-family-co-founded-red-bull-conceals-its?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Aug 2017 08:00:30 +0000 Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the Supreme Court’s decision to depose him last month was a “joke” and an insult to voters as he addressed a rally in Rawalpindi late Wednesday. The speech marks the first time Sharif has publicly commented on the court’s ruling and comes as the former prime minister leads a defiant procession from Islamabad to his party’s stronghold in the eastern city of Lahore. “I was not allowed to complete my third term,” he said from a bomb-proof vehicle... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2106194/deposed-former-pakistan-pm-sharif-says-ouster-was-insult-voters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2106194/deposed-former-pakistan-pm-sharif-says-ouster-was-insult-voters?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Aug 2017 03:53:26 +0000 Mossack Fonseca, the law firm linked to the Panama Papers scandal, has had to close most of its international offices due to a slump in business, company officials said. “We had about 45 offices abroad. Now there are about six left,” Jürgen Mossack, one of its founders told a briefing while insisting the Panama headquarters was not expecting to close. A trove of 11.5 million digital records from the Panamanian law firm revealed how many of the world’s wealthy used offshore companies to stash... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/2105236/panama-papers-fallout-mossack-fonseca-law-firm-shuts-dozens-offices-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/2105236/panama-papers-fallout-mossack-fonseca-law-firm-shuts-dozens-offices-after?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Aug 2017 04:49:21 +0000 Prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s lifetime disqualification from holding any public office, by Pakistan’s top court over corruption charges, is being widely hailed as a great step forward for the rule of law in the country. The case against Sharif and his family came after they were implicated in the Panama Papers leaks last year that revealed the offshore financial secrets of many of the world’s richest and most powerful people. After 10 months of court proceedings, the five-member bench of the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2104884/nawaz-sharifs-exit-shows-generals-are-no-longer-calling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2104884/nawaz-sharifs-exit-shows-generals-are-no-longer-calling?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Aug 2017 05:22:24 +0000 Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigned from office on Friday after the country’s apex court disqualified him for being dishonest to parliament regarding his wealthy family’s acquisition of overseas assets. In a statement, a spokesman for Sharif’s political party also voiced reservations about the Supreme Court’s decision, but said he and his party are confident he will eventually “triumph” in the court of public opinion, in an apparent suggestion the three-time prime minister may again... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2104485/pakistans-supreme-court-disqualifies-prime-minister-nawaz?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2104485/pakistans-supreme-court-disqualifies-prime-minister-nawaz?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Jul 2017 07:15:30 +0000 A shocking report in March by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project revealed that up to US$80 billion may have been funnelled out of Russia from 2010 to 2014, via amenable banks in Latvia and Moldova. Involved were all corners of the Russian elite, from oligarchs to shadowy figures linked to the FSB, Russia’s main security agency. A silence has since fallen over this scandal which has enveloped some of Hong Kong’s largest financial institutions. But this should not minimise what... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2103075/how-russian-money-launderers-boosted-clean-drive-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2103075/how-russian-money-launderers-boosted-clean-drive-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Jul 2017 06:18:56 +0000 A typeface has sparked uproar in Pakistan after documents using the font were produced in a corruption case against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif – despite being dated a year before the design was released. Microsoft’s Calibri font was used to type certified papers naming Sharif’s daughter Maryam as a trustee for several of the family’s high-end London properties. The plush apartments are at the heart of the case against the Sharif family, with authorities and the opposition questioning the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2102523/pakistans-fontgate-how-calibri-becomes-key-piece-evidence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2102523/pakistans-fontgate-how-calibri-becomes-key-piece-evidence?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Jul 2017 08:45:15 +0000 Chinese men ran ‘click farm’ in Thailand Three Chinese men arrested in Thailand have acknowledged that they were operating a “click farm”, using hundreds of cellphones and several hundred thousand SIM cards to run up “likes” and views on WeChat, a Chinese social media mobile application, Thai police said. Immigration Police Capt. Itthikorn Atthanark said the men explained they were paid according to how many likes and views they generated, each earning 100,000-150,000 baht (US$2,950-US$4,400)... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/asia-buzz/article/2098645/asia-3-minutes-chinese-paid-thai-click-farm-turnbull-did-not?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/asia-buzz/article/2098645/asia-3-minutes-chinese-paid-thai-click-farm-turnbull-did-not?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Jun 2017 09:45:00 +0000 Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday lashed out at what he called the “slandering” of his family in connection with an investigation of their wealth, and said unidentified people with agendas against him posed a danger to the country. Sharif was speaking after being grilled by a powerful panel investigating him and his family in an inquiry ordered by the Supreme Court that has gripped Pakistan and become increasingly politicised. “What is happening here is not about corruption... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2098521/pakistans-premier-appears-panel-probing-familys-links-panama?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2098521/pakistans-premier-appears-panel-probing-familys-links-panama?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Jun 2017 09:53:17 +0000 Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will appear on Thursday before an anti-corruption team investigating allegations of his family’s use of offshore tax havens. The case relates to the “Panama Papers” leaked last year that revealed the prime minister’s three children - Sharif’s sons Hassan and Hussain and his daughter Maryam - owned offshore companies incorporated in Panama and properties in London. Marriyum Aurangzeb, information minister, told media that the prime minister received the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2097948/panama-papers-pakistan-pm-sharif-appear-corruption-probe-team?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2097948/panama-papers-pakistan-pm-sharif-appear-corruption-probe-team?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jun 2017 07:44:57 +0000 The richest 0.01 per cent of households, involving those with more than US$40 million in assets, evade paying 30 per cent of their taxes on average, according to an academic study of tax evasion based on data revealed in the Panama Papers and the leaks concerning the HSBC Swiss private bank. Economists, who matched people named in the leaks with public wealth records, found that “the probability to hide assets rises very sharply with wealth”. The paper found that the super-rich evaded more than... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/2096620/panama-papers-suggest-super-rich-evade-nearly-third-their-taxes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/2096620/panama-papers-suggest-super-rich-evade-nearly-third-their-taxes?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Jun 2017 04:41:57 +0000 Pakistan on Wednesday invited Hong Kong to invest in the country’s infrastructure and anticipated property market boom, as a top-level delegation to the city got down to business. The “long friendship” with Hong Kong must develop into an “economic partnership”, Pakistani Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir Khan told the Post, and the city could be a key player in transferring capital, expertise and building infrastructure. On the second day of their visit, Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2094712/pakistan-prime-minister-invites-hong-kong-invest-country?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2094712/pakistan-prime-minister-invites-hong-kong-invest-country?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 May 2017 14:01:40 +0000 Pakistani residents in Hong Kong have demanded that the government bar their own prime minister from entering the city, saying Nawaz Sharif’s current involvement with accusations of corruption mean that could give the appearance of allowing “alleged criminals to seek safe haven”. By Saturday afternoon, an online petition to that effect had passed 1,200 signatures. One of the creators of the petition said he and others would organise “multiple protests” if Sharif enters Hong Kong. After joining... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2094208/pakistanis-hong-kong-call-government-bar-prime-minister?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2094208/pakistanis-hong-kong-call-government-bar-prime-minister?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 May 2017 07:00:00 +0000 The co-founder of the law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers scandal says the fallout has set off a “thriving” boom in the creation of tax shelters in the United States. Juergen Mossack, who partnered with Ramon Fonseca to create the Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca, said in a document obtained Thursday that after the Panama Papers leak a year ago, the number of new tax shelters created has fallen by 30 per cent in Panama and elsewhere. “However, jurisdictions such as Delaware, Nevada and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2089524/panama-papers-triggered-boom-us-tax-shelter-business?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2089524/panama-papers-triggered-boom-us-tax-shelter-business?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Apr 2017 05:18:40 +0000 Pakistan’s top court ordered the prime minister be investigated for corruption Thursday, in a highly anticipated decision that granted Nawaz Sharif a temporary reprieve as judges said there was insufficient evidence to oust him from power. Sharif and his children had been accused of graft in an ongoing case that had threatened to topple the prime minister and captivated Pakistan after the Panama Papers leak last year linked the family to offshore business. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2089221/pakistan-awaits-supreme-court-ruling-could-unseat-prime?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/2089221/pakistan-awaits-supreme-court-ruling-could-unseat-prime?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Apr 2017 08:10:41 +0000 The Panama Papers have given ammunition to the fight against tax evasion, but much still needs to happen before the world’s tax dodgers run out of places to hide money, experts say. Every [tax] euro that a multinational company fails to pay is a euro too many paid by households. It’s unacceptable Pierre Moscovici, the EU’s Economics Commissioner The papers, published a year ago, linked some of the world’s most powerful leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and former British prime... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/2084199/panama-papers-just-start-tax-war-more-action-needed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/2084199/panama-papers-just-start-tax-war-more-action-needed?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Apr 2017 13:13:12 +0000 Panama has a new tourist attraction: the building hosting the offices of the Mossack Fonseca law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers scandal. That is why, workers there say, the sign announcing the firm has been taken down from where it used to be outside the dark-tinted edifice in Panama City’s modern banking district. Too many tourists were stopping to take selfies in front of it. There was no money laundering. Only establishing companies within the limits of the law Marlene Guerra,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/2083855/law-firm-heart-panama-papers-shadow-its-former-self?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/2083855/law-firm-heart-panama-papers-shadow-its-former-self?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Apr 2017 01:01:43 +0000