No politicians – but 6,374 offshore companies in Cyprus were linked to the notorious Panama Papers that reveal who used that country as a tax haven.
That has led the Cypriot Tax Inspector’s office to say it will look at who’s behind them. The list was released previously by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and more details are leaking out.
According to the newspaper Politis, some 3,678 people on Cyprus are connected to the companies using a Panama firm, Mossack Fonseca, including a number of high-profile attorneys. The Panama firm has a Cyprus office too.
An appearance on the list does not necessarily mean an offense was committed, as according to the ICIJ, every activity reported in the leaks -though until recently secret- is legal.
The ICIJ says that it is up to the local tax authorities and journalists of each country to use the data to search for undeclared income and any politicians that may be connected.
Certain names of physical persons are repeated dozens of times. These are owners or managers of offshore companies and for the most part, their listing reveals nothing more than that they were acting their profession, mostly as attorneys who register offshore companies.
Within the names listed however, are persons who have troubled the authorities in the past. For instance, a person arrested during the Cyprus University of Technology corruption charges in 2014 was among those listed, the website in-Cyprus.com reported.