<p>Prime Minister Imran Khan promised Sunday to "investigate" Pakistani citizens connected to a massive probe into the hidden wealth of politicians worldwide, after members of his inner circle were implicated in the report.</p>.<p>The so-called "Pandora Papers" investigation -- involving some 600 journalists from media including The Washington Post, the BBC and The Guardian -- is based on the leak of some 11.9 million documents from 14 financial services companies around the world.</p>.<p>Some 35 current and former world leaders are featured in the documents analysed by the International Consortium of Investigative Jour1nalists (ICIJ) -- facing allegations ranging from corruption to money laundering and global tax avoidance.</p>.<p>In Pakistan, routinely ranked as among the most corrupt countries in the world, members of Khan's inner circle -- including cabinet ministers and their families -- are said to secretly own companies and trusts holding millions of dollars.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/pandora-papers-leak-exposes-offshore-dealings-of-super-rich-including-indians-1037049.html" target="_blank">Read | Pandora Papers leak exposes offshore dealings of super rich, including Indians</a></strong></p>.<p>"We welcome the Pandora Papers exposing the ill-gotten wealth of elites, accumulated through tax evasion & corruption & laundered out to financial 'havens,'" Khan said in a long Twitter thread.</p>.<p>"My govt will investigate all our citizens mentioned in the Pandora Papers & if any wrongdoing is established we will take appropriate action. I call on the international community to treat this grave injustice as similar to the climate change crisis."</p>.<p>Khan, who had run for office on an anti-graft platform, said that global poverty levels were fueled by corruption in tax havens, which he said divert funds away from the general public.</p>.<p>He also slammed wealthy countries for not being "interested in preventing this large-scale plunder nor in repatriating this looted money."</p>.<p>The "Pandora Papers" are the latest in a series of mass ICIJ leaks of financial documents, from LuxLeaks in 2014, to the 2016 Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers in 2017 and FinCen files in 2020.</p>.<p>One of Khan's predecessors, Nawaz Sharif, was ousted by the country's Supreme Court in 2017 over allegations made in the Panama Papers.</p>.<p>In total, the ICIJ found links between almost 1,000 companies in offshore havens and 336 high-level politicians and public officials, including country leaders, cabinet ministers, ambassadors and others.</p>.<p>In most countries, the ICIJ stresses, it is not illegal to have assets offshore or to use shell companies to do business across national borders.</p>.<p>But such revelations are no less of an embarrassment for leaders who may have campaigned publicly against corruption -- such as Khan -- or advocated austerity measures at home.</p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos</strong></p>
<p>Prime Minister Imran Khan promised Sunday to "investigate" Pakistani citizens connected to a massive probe into the hidden wealth of politicians worldwide, after members of his inner circle were implicated in the report.</p>.<p>The so-called "Pandora Papers" investigation -- involving some 600 journalists from media including The Washington Post, the BBC and The Guardian -- is based on the leak of some 11.9 million documents from 14 financial services companies around the world.</p>.<p>Some 35 current and former world leaders are featured in the documents analysed by the International Consortium of Investigative Jour1nalists (ICIJ) -- facing allegations ranging from corruption to money laundering and global tax avoidance.</p>.<p>In Pakistan, routinely ranked as among the most corrupt countries in the world, members of Khan's inner circle -- including cabinet ministers and their families -- are said to secretly own companies and trusts holding millions of dollars.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/pandora-papers-leak-exposes-offshore-dealings-of-super-rich-including-indians-1037049.html" target="_blank">Read | Pandora Papers leak exposes offshore dealings of super rich, including Indians</a></strong></p>.<p>"We welcome the Pandora Papers exposing the ill-gotten wealth of elites, accumulated through tax evasion & corruption & laundered out to financial 'havens,'" Khan said in a long Twitter thread.</p>.<p>"My govt will investigate all our citizens mentioned in the Pandora Papers & if any wrongdoing is established we will take appropriate action. I call on the international community to treat this grave injustice as similar to the climate change crisis."</p>.<p>Khan, who had run for office on an anti-graft platform, said that global poverty levels were fueled by corruption in tax havens, which he said divert funds away from the general public.</p>.<p>He also slammed wealthy countries for not being "interested in preventing this large-scale plunder nor in repatriating this looted money."</p>.<p>The "Pandora Papers" are the latest in a series of mass ICIJ leaks of financial documents, from LuxLeaks in 2014, to the 2016 Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers in 2017 and FinCen files in 2020.</p>.<p>One of Khan's predecessors, Nawaz Sharif, was ousted by the country's Supreme Court in 2017 over allegations made in the Panama Papers.</p>.<p>In total, the ICIJ found links between almost 1,000 companies in offshore havens and 336 high-level politicians and public officials, including country leaders, cabinet ministers, ambassadors and others.</p>.<p>In most countries, the ICIJ stresses, it is not illegal to have assets offshore or to use shell companies to do business across national borders.</p>.<p>But such revelations are no less of an embarrassment for leaders who may have campaigned publicly against corruption -- such as Khan -- or advocated austerity measures at home.</p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos</strong></p>