At a glance.
- Police in the Czech Republic intend to open an investigation into the Pandora Papers leaks.
- Treason trial underscores Russo-American impasse on privateering.
Police in the Czech Republic intend to open an investigation into the Pandora Papers leaks.
Euractiv reports that thirty-five current and former world leaders are highlighted in the Pandora Papers, a set of 11.9 million leaked financial documents. Statista notes that among the leaders named are "King Abdullah II of Jordan, the Emir of Dubai and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid, as well as the presidents of Azerbaijan, Montenegro, Kenya, Ecuador, Gabon, Chile, the Ukraine and the Republic of the Congo. The prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Cote d`Ivoire, and Lebanon and the emir of Qatar can also be found among those tied to offshore money havens."
bne IntelliNews says Czech police will look into the papers' claims that Prime Minister Andrej Babis "failed to declare an offshore investment company in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and used it to purchase two villas for €14.04mn in the south of France in 2009." The Washington Post notes that Babis is up for reelection this Friday, and he claims the Papers are an attempt to "influence the Czech election."
The Seattle Times says Malaysia's primary opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is pushing for the Papers to be discussed in Parliament, as the documents allege that the country's current and former Finance Ministers may have been involved in setting up offshore tax havens.
Reuters reports that the US government is also looking into the papers but is not yet ready to comment on its findings.
We should note that a lot of the activity being reported doesn't appear to be actually illegal, but the optics as they say, are bad.
Treason trial underscores Russo-American impasse on privateering.
Bloomberg reports that Group-IB founder Ilya Sachkov's treason trial highlights the struggles the US faces in trying to pressure Russia into cracking down on criminal hackers within its borders. Sachkov has been accused by Moscow of giving information on Russian hackers to the US.
Sachkov had complied with Russia's requirement that his company collaborate with the Federal Security Service (FSB), but Group-IB's expansion outside of Russia made him a target of suspicion. He had also called for the arrest of Evil Corp ringleader Maksim Yakubets, who is wanted by the US. Andrei Soldatov, co-author of 'The Red Web: The Kremlin’s Wars on the Internet' and co-founder of Agentura.ru, told Bloomberg that Sachkov's arrest shows that "The FSB doesn’t want any even semi-independent players in this field."