Kremlin Says Pandora Papers Show US is Largest Tax Haven Despite Vows to Fight Money Laundering

On 4 October, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published a new 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 recent publication of the Pandora Papers has shown that the US is the largest tax haven, despite Washington's vows to fight against money laundering, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on 4 October.

Peskov added that Moscow sees no reason to conduct an investigation into the publication because it considers the leaked files as "unfounded statements".

"To be honest, we did not see any hidden wealth of Putin's entourage... It seems that there will be more publications on that matter, but so far we have not seen anything special. We know where they get information from, and how they get information", Peskov noted.

The Pandora Papers earlier revealed that some American states, namely South Dakota and Nevada, have become perfect places to hide billions of dollars in wealth linked to people previously accused of financial crimes.

The publication suggests that the US has emerged as "a leading tax haven" thanks to local legislation allegedly drafted by the trust industry, which protects trust customers in the US and abroad.

The ICIJ has described the newly-published exposé of illicit financial activities as the most expansive yet, noting that the investigation involved more than 600 journalists from 117 countries as well as over 11.9 million leaked files "covering every corner of the globe".