Panama Papers: All you need to know about biggest leak that sent shock waves around the world

New Delhi, Apr 4: Panama Papers, the biggest ever leak in the history sent shock waves around the world. It has revealed how rich and powerful people from across the world use tax heavens to hide their wealth.

Heads of state, politicians, celebrities and criminals from around the world have been appeared in the list revealed by the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca.

The revelations has exposed almost 40 years of intricate methods to make use of offshore assets.

Here are the facts all you need to know about Panama Paper, the biggest ever revelation in the history

What are Panama Papers?

• The Panama Papers are set of more than 11 million leaked files from the database of Panama based law firm Mossack Fonseca, exposes a system that enables crime, corruption and wrongdoing, hidden by secretive offshore companies.

• The leaked data covers nearly 40 years, from 1977 through the end of 2015.

• It is a global investigation into the sprawling, secretive industry of offshore that the world's rich and powerful use to hide assets and skirt rules by setting up front companies in far-flung jurisdictions.

• "The leaked internal files contain information on 214,488 offshore entities connected to people in more than 200 countries and territories. ICIJ will release the full list of companies and people linked to them in early May, said the ICIJ on its website.

Who are in the list?

• These revelations have exposed the offshore financial dealings of many politicians including Russian president Vladimir Putin, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

• Footballer Lionel Messi has also appeared in the list.

• More than 500 Indians including top Bollywood celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, politicians, DLF's K P Singh and Apollo Tyres promoter have been figured in the list of tax evaders by the Panama Papers.

How did it come to light?

• The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), together with the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and more than 100 other media partners, including the Indian Express from India, spent a year sifting through 11.5 million leaked files to expose the offshore holdings of world political leaders, links to global scandals, and details of the hidden financial dealings of "fraudsters, drug traffickers, billionaires, celebrities, sports stars and more", the consortium said on its website.

• Sueddeutsche Zeitung first received the data more than a year ago via an anonymous sources..

• ICIJ's probe is unprecedented and is said to be larger than the US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks in 2010 and the secret intelligence documents given to media houses by Edward Snowden in 2013.

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