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PANDORA PAPERS

Offshore holdings of Lebanese political figures included in Pandora Papers findings

Offshore holdings of Lebanese political figures included in Pandora Papers findings

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, whose name appears in the Pandora Papers, an investigation released Sunday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. (Credit: Joseph Eid/ AFP)

BEIRUT — A trove of leaked documents related to offshore financial operations implicating several high-profile Lebanese leaders has been published by a coalition of media outlets led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

Here’s what we know:

    • The leaked records come from 14 firms that set up shell companies and other offshore entities, often for powerful clients looking to shield their transactions from scrutiny and dodge taxes in their home countries. The largest firm in the leak is Trident Trust, which established 346 offshore companies for Lebanese clients, according to Daraj, a Lebanese digital media outlet focused on investigative reporting.

    • Prime Minister Najib Mikati features in the documents, which reveal that the politician and billionaire businessman purchased a $10 million property in Monaco in 2008 via a Panamanian company he owned. Mikati’s son Maher was the director of at least two British Virgin Islands-based companies, through which the M1 Group owned a property in London. In a statement to ICIJ and their Lebanese partner, Daraj, Maher said that Lebanese nationals use Panama and BVI-based companies "due to the easy process of incorporation" and not to evade Lebanese taxes.

    • Former Premier Hassan Diab is also present in the documents as part-owner of a shell company in the British Virgin Islands alongside businessman Nabil Badr and financier Ali Haddarah. All three reportedly did not respond to a request for comment.

    • According to Daraj, the leak shows Banque du Liban governor Riad Salameh founded a company called AMANIOR in 2007. Article 20 of the Code of Money and Credit says that the central bank governor is “barred from keeping, taking or receiving any interest whatsoever in a private enterprise.” Via his lawyer, Salameh told Daraj he is free to invest his wealth, which he says he accumulated before becoming governor of the central bank.

    • Prominent banker Marwan Kheireddine, chairman and general manager of Al-Mawarid Bank (AM Bank) is the director of two British Virgin Island-based companies. Khaireddine reportedly did not respond to Daraj’s requests for comment.

BEIRUT — A trove of leaked documents related to offshore financial operations implicating several high-profile Lebanese leaders has been published by a coalition of media outlets led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Here’s what we know:    • The leaked records come from 14 firms that set up shell companies and other offshore entities, often for...