ICIJ is releasing additional emails, contracts, company structures, trust declarations and more from its Paradise Papers project, a significant addition to the Offshore Leaks database and part of ICIJ’s larger goal to shed light on some of the world’s most secretive jurisdictions
These documents are often referred to as unstructured, because – unlike a spreadsheet or a database – they are not easily searchable by a computer. They have been reviewed and redacted where appropriate but are rich in information and were critical to ICIJ’s reporting.
They are just part of about 13.5 million documents obtained by Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with ICIJ. Most of them are from Appleby, one of the offshore law firms at the center of the Paradise Papers.
The news organizations don’t plan to release all documents since many haven’t yet been reviewed, include personal information on private individuals or do not involve matters of public concern.
One example of the unstructured documents are those relating to ICIJ’s story that exposed tax-avoidance practices of jet owners on the Isle of Man, ICIJ released a handful of documents from Appleby’s Isle of Man office.
One document shows how professionals working for Formula One racing champion Lewis Hamilton created a company on the island to import a private jet, allowing Hamilton to collect a $5.2 million refund of taxes paid on its purchase.
And this excerpt from a KPMG audit details a complex company structure – stretching from Ireland to Jersey – behind a fund that owned a catalog of music publishing rights, allowing the fund’s beneficiaries to avoid taxes on royalties generated, mostly in the United States, by these country, jazz and pop classics.
The following is a list of all original documents that ICIJ has published so far. This list will be updated as new ones are added.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and his Russian business ties:
- WL Ross group fees to Appleby
- Offshore structure of the WL Ross group
- 2014 WLR RECOVERY ASSOCIATES IV DSS AIV Annual Return
- Wilbur Ross ownership
- Email on Wilbur Ross companies Ownership
- Cayman Islands Ross entities transferred to Appleby
- Appleby due diligence requirements for WL Ross Group
- Wilbur Ross Ethics Agreement
- Wilbur Ross Financial Disclosure
Kremlin-owned firms linked to investments in Facebook and Twitter:
Offshore services law firm, Appleby, and its history of compliance failures:
Mining giant Glencore and its operations in the Congo:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s chief fundraiser’s offshore maneuvers:
- The Kolber Trust, 1996
- Trusts With Known Canadian Beneficiaries
- 2004 email on Bronfman U.S. trusts
- The Kolber Trust File Note
- Settlement Proposal by Kolber’s attorneys
- Bronfman and Kolber tax advisors recommendations
- Loan Repayment to Kobler
The offshore gurus who help the rich avoid taxes on jets and yachts:
- New Isle of Man Company Aircraft structure – Summary
- Hamilton VAT refund
- Appleby’s pitch to Hamilton and his representatives
- Memorandum of Agreement, Serene
- Client Background Notes on Leonid Mikhelson
Leaked documents expose the secret tale of Apple’s island hop:
- Apple Place of Business Questionnaire
- Email about Apple from global head of Appleby’s corporate division to other senior partners
How Nike stays one step ahead of the regulators
Burkina Faso and the development dreams that stand still while money move offshore:
U.S. political donors playing the offshore game:
- General Holdings LLC and Warren Stephens
- Hayfield Corporate Structure
- Warren Stephens as owner of Rustic Hill Advisors
Go inside the secret world of offshore mega-trusts:
The rise of Mauritius as a tax haven
- Compliance Risk Review Report, Africa
- Quantum New Structure
- Presentation Overview of the Global Business Sector in Mauritius May 2011
- Mauritius Treaties
The role of offshore in forest destruction:
- Corporate Structure including April
- 2010 Flow Chart
- Tanoto’s nominee services agreement
- APRIL History Search
Thousands of classic American songs tucked away tax-free:
ICIJ’s Power Player’s interactive:
- Business committee note on Sally Kosgei
- New Business File Note on Ibrahim Mahama
- Client Acceptance Form Kutesa
- Capital Call Notice – The Duchy of Lancaster – Queen Elizabeth
- Sustainable Forestry Board meeting – Prince Charles
- Acorn Trust and Minstrel Trust – Prince Khaled
- The Passion Group Trust – Shawkat
- Annual Report Hoifu Energy Group Ltd – Hatoyama
- BoD consent Energia Global International – Figueres
- Checklist Jano Ltd. – Gertz Manero
- Questionnaire Amaggi & LD Commodities – Maggi
- Minutes BoD of Said Holdings Limited – Mulroney
- Option Register Madagascar Oil Limited – Chretien
- Resolution BoD D.Light Design Inc. – Jayant Sinha
- New Business File Note Amaya Inc. – Clark
- Information Sheet on the Sabedoria Trust – Meirelles
- Checklist for DCR Herschorn Settlement – Sassoon
- Due Diligence Index – Guoga
- Memo for Fusades Limited – Quintanilla
- Trust Distributions Valentine 1997 Trust – Queen Noor
- Information Sheet about the Antarctic Trust – Aziz
- BMA Consent for DRBIT Investors – Pritzker
- Resignation as Director of Ranin Limited – Dukanovic
- Appleby Document for Tenia Ltd – Saraki
- Master File Document From Appleby – Johnson Sirleaf
- Master File Document From Appleby – Hichilema
- 2012 Compliance Document From Appleby – Ablyazov
- Master File Document From Appleby – Mynbayev
- Master File Document From Appleby – Subianto
- Master File Document From Appleby – Tillerson
- Centraz Finance Limited – Atamkulov
- SIS Asia Pacific Holdings Limited – RK Sinha
- Novia Management Ltd – Gusenbauer
- Tuc Limited – Prigodsky
- Marfa Holding Ltd – Voshchevsky
- Hawke Bay Marine Co Ltd – Yildirim
- Middle East Law Firm SAL – Makhlouf
- Golden Spike – Mamiek Suharto
- Master File Document From Appleby – Tommy Suharto
- CSL Self-Unloader Investments Ltd. 2015
- Global Tuition and Education Insurance Corporation – Santos