ICIJ May Publish More Data on Offshore Schemes, Has 12Mln Files Under Scrutiny

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) told Sputnik on Sunday that it does not rule out more revelations about offshore schemes used by the world's richest and most powerful people in the coming days, months or even years as the group is combing through 12 million files.

Earlier in the day, the ICIJ published a new "Pandora Papers" leak on the alleged financial secrets of over 35 current and former world leaders as well as more than 330 politicians and officials from across the globe.

The report's explosive findings name-checked King of Jordan Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and even Colombia singer Shakira, among a bevy of other figures.

"We tend to continue to publish based on the documents. We intend to publish in the next few days and months and possibly years to come. Well, it's 12 million documents, so I'm sure more stories will come," an ICIJ spokesperson said.

They were also open to the idea that new prominent names might emerge over the course of the investigation.

"I don't know the answer to that, it depends on what we'll discover. What I can tell you is that it's [has] taken us 2 years to find the 35 that we have. We may discover more but we don't know," the spokesperson added.

The Pandora Papers is considered the biggest trove of leaked offshore data, and is just the latest in a string of such revelation over the past several years. Similar findings surfaced following the FinCen Files, Paradise Papers, Panama Paper and the LuxLeaks.

Organized by the ICIJ, the investigation and analysis of findings involved the participation of more than 650 reporters.